balanced by feeding them. If you
require assistance or advice on using
a type of forage you are unfamiliar
with, make efforts to contact an
equine nutritionist for some profes-
sional advice and assistance. This
service is available free of charge,
year-round from Kentucky Equine
Research on 1800 772 198 or email
advice@ker.com.
In terms of bucket feed, there are a
couple of high fibre ingredients that
can be added to increase the bulk of
the diet and supplement limited hay
intakes:
Grain and seed hulls: The polished
hulls of oats, lupins, and sunflowers
can become available during times
of drought and some can be used to
increase the roughage content of the
diet. Whilst many of these by prod-
ucts have little digestible fibre or
dietary energy, they do add bulk and
can replace some of the chaff that
would usually be used to bulk out the
hard feed ration. Hulls can be dusty,
so must be dampened prior to feeding
and may need the addition of a little
molasses to increase palatability and
intake. They should be mixed well
with the grain and chaff mix. Oat
hulls should be avoided since they
are sharp and can pierce the horse’s
gums and cause mouth ulcers and
infection.
Super Fibres: These are highly
digestible fibre sources such as beet
pulp provide a source of slow release
energy from the fermentation and
production of volatile fatty acids
by the microbial population of the
horse’s hindgut.
Bran and pollard: A traditional feed
for horses, bran and pollard has a
couple of problems to do with the
high phosphorus and low calcium
levels. Bran has very little digestible
energy, has less fibre than oats on a
volume basis and is only really useful
to add volume to a ration. Pollard has
a little more energy but has even low-
er fibre levels than bran and needs
careful balancing for calcium. If bran
and pollard are to be used as a bulker,
then a calcium supplement such as
KER Bone Food Plus should be added
to balance calcium levels.
Commercial fibre mixes: These are
available in the form of sweet-feeds
with a high proportion of added
chaff, for example Barastoc Com-
plete Performer. These sweet-feeds
usually have a vitamin and mineral
premix added to help fill the gaps left
by straight hay and grains. Due to
the chaff present in these feeds, the
fibre content is higher and can aid in
slowing the horse down when
ingesting these feeds due to the in-
creased chewing required.
These types of commercial feeds can
be used to partly replace some of the
hay or chaff that would normally be
fed. Check the fibre content on the
bag tag, and chose a feed with a fibre
content of around 10-15% or more if
the sole aim is to increase fibre and
bulk. Be careful to adhere to the
manufacturers recommended
feeding rates, and if you have
any questions about maximum
feeding rates for your type of horse,
contact the manufacturer for
guidance.
Energy
To keep horses healthy and in good
condition you will need to provide
sufficient dietary energy. Horses
should be body condition scored
regularly by their owners. If you
are unsure how-to body condition
score your horse, contact the team at
Kentucky Equine Research for as-
sistance on 1800 772 198 or email
advice@ker.com .
When pasture availability is limited,
and horses are receiving supple-
mentary, many horses in drought
conditions will need supplementary
feeding in order to maintain condi-
tion. After forage, most horse owners
look to grains or premixed feeds to
provide energy. The dangers of too
much starch (i.e. too much grain) will
be discussed shortly, but suffice to
say that when hard feed is provided,
it is best to try and minimise grain,
and use energy sources that are con-
sidered to be ‘safer’ such as fats and
digestible fibres.
Whether you decide to make up your
own grain mix, or buy a commercial
pre-mixed feed, care must be taken
to introduce new feeds slowly and in
sensible amounts.
Commercial feeds can be an economi-
cal and hassle-free way of providing a
balanced diet safely through peri-
ods of drought. Prices may increase
slightly through dry periods, but
not by the same margin as forages.
Whichever feed you decide on, use
one with energy levels designed for
horses in the level and type of work
that your horse is doing. If you have
a spelling horse, then a feed designed
September • October • 2018 • The Australian Quarter Horse Magazine • 37