Question
I own a nine-year-old Thoroughbred gelding that I ride four to six days a week in preparation for barrel-racing competition. He’s a tall horse, so at 1,200 lb (545 kg), he’s thin. I can see his ribs easily, but he’s not skeletal by any means. On the racetrack, he bled and roared; the roaring was fixed surgically. He is not stabled at all, so he has access to mid-quality pasture during the day. He is fed 8 lb (3.6 kg) of feed per day and 4-6 oz of a concentrated fat source. He also receives an anti-ulcer and muscle supplement. Can you please assess the diet, and tell me what you think? What can I do for his occasional stiff joints and thin, weak hooves?
Answer
Your gelding’s current diet is providing appropriate nutrition (energy and nutrients) for barrel racing; however, if he is not maintaining his weight or gaining the additional weight on this diet, then additional calories should be added.
Offering him free-choice hay, especially an alfalfa (lucerne) mix is a great way to get extra calories into his diet compared to typical grass hays. Alfalfa also has the additional stomach-buffering benefits. If your gelding cleans up all his hay, I would suggest increasing his daily allotment, making sure he is receiving at least 1.5-2% of his body weight per day (18-24 lb, 8-11 kg).
Even if horses have access to free-choice hay, if the quality of the hay is a limiting factor, then horses won’t eat as much due to increased fiber content. The hay will not offer as much nutritional value per pound as good-quality hay. If this is the case, replacing some of the hay with additional chopped or pelleted forage products can offer a more digestible source of fiber to increase the energy in his diet.
If you have maximized the forage portion of his diet, then the additional calories need to come from the concentrate portion of his ration. Before adding more feed, though, I would recommend addressing the health of his digestive tract, as you have mentioned he is prone to ulcers and currently receives and anti-ulcer supplement.
RiteTrac is an appropriate supplement to maintain and support digestive health. RiteTrac, which is available in the U.S., contains coating agents to protect the stomach lining from contact with excess acid and buffer this excess acid both in the stomach and hindgut. RiteTrac contains EquiShure, a proven time-released hindgut buffer. A healthy digestive tract will allow optimal digestion and utilization of the nutrients in the feed you are giving your gelding. For Australian horse owners, find gastrointestinal tract products here.
Because your Thoroughbred competes in barrel-racing, he is asked to do short-duration, high-speed intense exercise. He may benefit from a small increase of starch in his diet. Muscle glycogen is the primary fuel source of performance horses. For normal, healthy performance horses, the best diet may be one with moderate-high starch and added fat, such as stabilized rice bran. Your current feed has controlled starch levels compared to other commercially available performance horse feeds. Adding oats supplies a dietary source of nonstructural carbohydrates (starch and sugar) that can replenish muscle glycogen stores.
To start with I would add a small amount of oats to his diet, perhaps 2-4 cups per day. As meals size increase, your gelding may benefit from having his daily feed divided into three smaller meals per day rather than two larger meals.
If you don’t see improvement in his condition, you may need to increase the amount of feed you are offering to 10 lb (4.5 kg) per day, fed in three meals. It is always best to introduce dietary changes gradually over a period of 7-10 days to allow the digestive tract to adapt to new feeds.
Once your horse has reached his ideal body condition, it is best to reassess his diet periodically to determine the least amount of feed required to maintain him at optimal body weight. Continuing to feed a weight-gain diet might make him too fat.
Offering a supplement that provides additional nutrients to support hoof growth that includes stronger, better-quality hoof walls. Bio-Bloom PS (Bio-Bloom in Australia) provides the building blocks for strong hooves, namely biotin, zinc methionine, calcium, and iodine. To encourage hoof growth, you may need to offer a loading dose of 60 g per day. Once new growth is visible, you can reduce this to a maintenance dose of 30 g per day.
