A Change in Season Drives a Change in Feeding Enquiries
Inevitably, speaking to customers on the Dengie Feedline there are seasonal trends and queries that tend to pop up time and again. Currently, our stats tell us that we are speaking to more horse owners that have concerns regarding which forage replacers to feed to horses with dental problems. This is a common concern for this time of year when the reliance on conserved forage increases in line with increased stable time. What’s different this year however is that compared to normal, the number of enquiries relating to equine odontoclastic tooth resorption and hypercementosis (EOTRH) seems to have markedly increased.
EOTRH first appeared on my radar back in 2014 when I attended the European Workshop on Equine Nutrition in Leipzig where it was discussed in a session on Dental Care for Older Horses (Vogt, 2014). Here it was reported that the disease had been described for the first time in 2008, but it was gaining some significance. It was also reported that the disease was generally seen in older horses and treatment frequently boils down to the total extraction of the incisors. Since then, whilst I have occasionally come across EOTRH cases and have some practical experience, this year I have found myself discussing these cases more frequently.
Credit: Ben Portus at Paton & Lee
EOTRH is a progressive disease that affects the incisors and canines and amongst other symptoms the reluctance to bite is common as it causes pain. If your horse is suddenly reluctant to take hay from a small-holed net, but will eat it from the floor it may indicate some discomfort with the front teeth that shouldn’t be ignored and should be discussed with your vet.
For horses that have had their incisors removed as treatment for EOTRH, short grass can pose a particular challenge. The horse’s incisors are fundamentally the horse’s shears that allow them to cut grass and bring it into their mouth with the assistance of their lips and tongue. Horses without incisors can often adapt to using their lips and tongue to prehend and pull grass into the mouth providing it is long enough to grab with their lips. When the grass is short or sparse, this isn’t possible and if your horse is turned out to grass all day then this is a significant amount of time that they can’t eat which will have deleterious effects on digestive health and mean that they are likely to struggle to maintain weight.
Top Tips if your Horse has EOTRH or has incisors removed because of it:
- If the grass is short in your horse’s paddock, they are unlikely to be able to eat it and an alternative forage source to grass is required.
- If your horse’s molars are still in good condition providing hay or haylage from the floor or in a trough will be easier for them to manage than from a net.
- If your horse can no longer manage to chew long stem forage due to generally poor dentition, a short chop forage replacer or an entirely soaked forage ration are more appropriate options.
- If other horses in the paddock are not allowed supplementary forage, creating a paddock within a paddock for your horse to be separated will allow them to have their appropriate forage replacer whilst still being able to see their herd if they are still happiest outside.
- At minimum all horses should have at least 1.5% of their bodyweight on a dry matter basis daily of forage. For a 500kg horse this is 7.5kg of dry matter which is typically 8.8kg of hay as fed (if the forge is around 85% dry matter).
For further feeding advice call the Dengie Feedline on 01621 841188 (Option 1) or fill in our Feed Advice Form.
