Is your horse getting what she needs in her current diet? Does she have health concerns that could be improved through feeding practices?
If you own or care for horses, chances are you have asked yourself these questions at some point. You may have even sought out the services of an equine nutritionist to help you formulate a balanced diet for your horse.
Equine nutritionists are university-educated professionals with expertise in the feeding and management of horses. Nutritionists are trained in both practical on-farm feeding situations and the science of equine physiology and metabolism.
Whether you are designing a diet for the first time, an experienced barn manager, a competitive athlete, or a concerned horse owner caring for a horse with health concerns, this article is for you.
At Mad Barn, our nutritionists formulate thousands of diets every year for free for horse owners across North America. You can book a nutrition consultation by phone.
Equine Nutritionist Qualifications
The nutritionists at Mad Barn have dedicated their lives to learning how to best feed horses. Our training begins with a four-year bachelor’s degree in nutrition, animal science, or another field related to equine nutrition.
During a bachelor’s degree, we take many academic and practical courses to ensure we are well-versed in animal health, nutrition, metabolism, and management.
Following a bachelor’s degree, a nutritionist will typically complete a one- or two-year master’s degree in animal nutrition. During a master’s degree, our primary focus shifts from classroom learning to research experience.
Masters students do take advanced courses to gain a deeper understanding of nutrition and the principles of diet formulation, but we also conduct animal trials. This teaches us to execute research studies and interpret results from published literature.
At the end of a master’s degree, nutritionists complete and publish a thesis outlining everything we have learned from our research.
After a master’s degree, some nutritionists will go on to complete a doctorate degree (Ph.D.) in nutrition or a related field, which can take anywhere from 3 to 5 years or more.
During a Ph.D., we still take some courses to deepen our understanding of nutrition principles, but the main focus is research. Ph.D. candidates also typically assist with teaching undergraduate courses in equine or animal science.
Ph.D. students learn how to design nutrition experiments, become proficient in executing research, and publish our findings to drive advancements in nutrition.
Having a strong theoretical grasp of nutrition, digestion, physiology and metabolism is what allows qualified nutritionists to translate experimental data into real-world feeding solutions.
Working with an Equine Nutritionist
When you work with a nutritionist, we look at many different factors related to your horse’s current feeding program, physiological status, health history, activity level, housing situation, and more.
For example, when you submit a diet evaluation to Mad Barn, we collect a lot of information such as your horse’s age, breeding status, exercise level, feeding situation, and geographic area.
We use this information and your comments about your horse’s health to understand how her current diet compares to her predicted nutrient requirements. From there, we can formulate a recommended diet to better meet her needs and ensure balanced ratios of all nutrients.
Here’s a look at how some of the following details impact our evaluation of your horse’s nutritional requirements:
Physiological Status
Weight and Age
Nutritional requirements are calculated based on your horse’s current weight for mature horses and expected mature weight for growing horses. Horses that are five years old or younger are considered growing, and their requirements will be adjusted accordingly.
There is no difference in the requirements for adult and senior horses. However, if you have an aged horse with special needs, we may recommend supplementing extra energy, protein or other nutrients to help improve or maintain their condition.
Growth
Horses are considered growing for nutritional purposes until they are five years old, which is why we ask for your horse’s date of birth.
Growing horses have higher energy, protein, vitamin and mineral requirements to support the development of their skeleton, muscles, and other tissues. [1]
Protein and energy requirements are calculated based on their mature weight with higher intake to support age-specific development. Vitamin and mineral requirements are also based on expected mature body weight.
It’s important to ensure you are meeting the nutrient requirements of a growing horse, but also important not to significantly exceed their requirements. Feeding a young horse excess protein or energy can increase the risk of developmental orthopedic diseases.
Exercise
The level and frequency of exercise your horse gets impacts her energy and protein requirements and also influences vitamin, mineral, and electrolyte requirements.
The way we classify exercise load for nutritional purposes is not always intuitive. [1] The workload has a big impact on how we calculate requirements, so it’s important that we get it right.
Horses at maintenance are not exercising or working. These horses might be turned out in a pasture, but are not actively being trained or ridden.
Horses in light exercise might train for 1-3 hours per week, mostly at a walk and trot. Recreational riding horses, some horses at the beginning of training programs, and horses that show occasionally are usually in light work.
Horses in moderate exercise train more frequently or for longer durations. They typically work about 3-5 hours weekly, mostly at a walk and trot. School horses, horses at the beginning of more intense training, and show horses that frequently show in minimally strenuous events (i.e. pleasure classes) are usually in moderate exercise.
Horses in heavy exercise train more intensely. They might work 4-5 hours per week, mostly at a trot and canter or doing skill work like jumping. Working ranch horses, show horses participating in frequent, strenuous events, and barrel racing horses are often in heavy exercise.
Horses in very heavy exercise may have variable training times and intensities but a very heavy workload overall. These horses might participate in activities ranging from 1 hour per week of speed work to 6-12 hours per week of lower intensity work. Race horses and elite 3-day eventing horses are typically in very heavy exercise.
Pregnancy and Lactation
To support fetal and foal development, pregnant and lactating mares require extra energy, protein, vitamin and mineral support. [1]
Their requirements are based on the stage of pregnancy or lactation they are in. Nutritional needs are highest during later stages of pregnancy and early stages of lactation.
This is why we ask how many months pregnant or lactating they are. Pregnant and lactating mares must be managed closely to ensure their diet is balanced. Imbalanced nutrition can impact their health and the health of their developing babies.
Breed
Your horse’s breed does not impact how we calculate her nutritional requirements. However, it can still be helpful information to consider in our evaluations.
For example, if you are unsure of your horse’s current weight, we might use the average mature weight for their breed to make an estimate.
Additionally, some breeds are predisposed to health issues that might impact their nutritional needs.
How We Calculate Your Horse’s Nutrient Intake
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