Feeding to the Horse’s Body Condition

not left empty for long periods of time.
If your horse stays skinny irrespective of how much or how frequently you feed this can be an indication of not getting enough nutrients from the diet. Sometimes this can be fixed simply by conducting a nutrient analysis of the hay then balancing the ration with concentrates. Hay is the mainstay of a horses diet and should always be considered the starting point for any complete ration. Other things to consider might be parasite burden a simple inexpensive fecal analysis can tell you if the horse has an unhealthy parasite load or gastric ulcers which inhibit the ability of the gastrointestinal tract to digest and absorb nutrients. And again increasing the frequency of feeding will often increase the total amount of nutrients consumed over the course of a day and can help put weight on a hard keeper.
Why is my horse too fat?
While its relatively easy for most of us to wag a disapproving finger at a skinny horse we tend to be more forgiving of our excessively fluffy equine friends. But carrying too much weight can be even less healthy for a horse than carrying insufficient weight. Health conditions that plague overweight people including arthritis insulin resistance heart disease and circulatory problems are equally prevalent in overweight horses. Insulin resistance has reached almost epidemic proportions in pleasure horses and is frequently associated with obesity and laminitis. Insulin sensitivity and glucose metabolism are involved in the complex endocrine regulation of feeding behaviour. In its most simple explanation insulin resistance decreases activity of enzymes that degrade ghrelin thus ghrelin remains high in the blood and the stimulus to eat prevails. Controlling insulin resistance can be very challenging for horse owners as there is little in terms of a cure that we can rely on. Feeding compounds that can increase insulin sensitivity e g. fenugreek and cinnamon can help control irregularity in plasma ghrelin.