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Reducing Waste in Horse Feed: Practical Tips for Sustainable Feeding

by Tracey Hammond, MSc (Dist)

 

Following on from the previous blog on Dengie’s Sustainability initiatives, as individuals how we feed our horses also has an important role to play in doing our bit for climate impact. Whilst as a company, Dengie can work to reduce the carbon footprint of the feeds, in practice any horse’s bucket feed is typically only a small percentage of its diet, with forage being consumed in much larger quantities. Here we look at some key things you as horse owners can do to reduce waste.

Feed an appropriate amount of conserved forage for your horse

Whilst this can be hard to define, the main aim here is to reduce waste whilst satisfying your horse’s behavioural and nutritional needs. In the UK the horse’s main source of conserved forages are hay, haylage, wrapped hay, and straw and our reliance on these forages increases at times when grass growth is less, or the horse is stabled more.

Generally, the advice from nutritionists, providing the horse isn’t overweight, is to feed ad-lib forage. This is because the opportunity to engage in foraging behaviour is vital to the horse’s welfare and maintaining sufficient forage intake is vital to maintain digestive health. The dictionary definition of ad-lib is ‘as much and as often as desired’.

Horses are selective feeders and if provided with significantly more forage than they have the appetite to eat, they will become more selective with what they eat – essentially choosing the tastiest morsels. Unfortunately, this can result in waste especially if uneaten hay is dragged into dirty bedding or trodden into muddy paddocks. Even as little as 700g daily is a loss of a ¼ of a small rectangular bale of hay per week, or a bale a month that’s being chucked on the muck heap. This isn’t only a cost to the environment, but a cost to your pocket as well.

So how do we find the balance between providing plenty of opportunity for foraging behaviour whilst reducing waste? Firstly, we want to make sure that enough forage is fed. At minimum the current consensus is that all horses and ponies should have access to 1.5% of their bodyweight on a dry matter (DM) basis of forage daily (Harris et al., 2016). This equates to 7.5kg dry matter for a 500kg horse or 8.8kg of hay as fed (assuming the hay is 85% DM). This quantity is typically advised for good do-ers and overweight horses to aid weight management but generally horses would like to eat more – so how much can they consume?

The NRC Nutrient Requirements of Horses, 6th edition (2007), which is one of the reference texts that nutritionists use when determining a horse’s requirements, estimates DM intake for both maintenance and light working horses as 2% of bodyweight whereas moderate and heavy working horses are estimated at 2.25 and 2.5% of bodyweight, respectively. Whilst intake is likely to be highly individual, and practical experience demonstrates some individuals consume much more, typically we assume an upper appetite of 2.5% of bodyweight. For a 500kg horse this is 12.5kg dry matter or 14.7kg as fed of hay (assuming the hay is 85% dry matter).

Many of us don’t weigh the forage we offer to our horses, or the amount left over to know how much they are consuming. If you don’t already then this is a great place to begin. If your horse is wasting hay but they are otherwise healthy and the hay is good hygienic quality, it will indicate that they are getting more than they need and you can reduce their intake in line with their appetite. Additionally, if you regularly monitor forage intake and intake drops suddenly or over time this may indicate either a problem with the forage e.g. mould or other palatability issues, or a problem with the horse e.g. dental issues that need to be addressed.

Store forage and feed correctly

Storing forage and feed correctly is also all about reducing waste. Moulds are in the environment all around us and when they proliferate, mould and their associated mycotoxins have the potential to be harmful to health. For this reason, any forage or feed that appears mouldy or smells ‘musty’ should not be fed. If your horse goes off the forage they usually eat, trust their instinct. Mould is just one of the potential suspects for causing palatability issues!

Moulds originate in the field or when stored due to inappropriate storage conditions. Whilst producing and storing forage and feed, keeping in mind that moulds need both air and moisture to proliferate is key to knowing how to try and avoid them.

Hay is cut when grass is mature and left to dry in the field before being baled and stored. To conserve hay and prevent it from spoiling or going mouldy, the grass needs to be sufficiently dry before baling. Typically, hay will be 85% or above dry matter which relies on having good weather conditions to achieve – not always easy in the UK and it is something that may become increasingly challenging with climate change! Hay that is too wet will not store well and will be liable to moulding making it unsuitable to feed. Conditions during storage can also influence mould growth and if hay is stored in moist conditions it is more likely to mould – if you have a leaky roof, now’s the time to fix it.

The wrapped forages, haylage and wrapped hay, tend to be cut earlier in the season and left to wilt for a shorter period in the field before being baled and wrapped in several layers of plastic. The difference between wrapped forages and hay is that whilst the conservation of hay relies on the removal of moisture, the conservation of wrapped forages relies on the exclusion of air to prevent mould growth. Wrapped forages need to be stored and handled with care to prevent the puncturing or tearing of the plastic which will let air in and allow for the proliferation of mould.

Any bags of feed that you purchase should also be kept in cool, dry conditions to prevent the proliferation of mould. Ideally feed should be kept in a vermin proof bin that is regularly cleaned.

Right forage; right horse

Selecting the right forage for the right horse can help in two ways. Firstly, for those that are working or don’t maintain their weight well, selecting more digestible forages like early cut haylages can help to meet the horse’s energy needs reducing the reliance on additional bucket feed to fill the energy gap.

Secondly, in the UK it is estimated that between 30-50% of the equine population is obese, increasing to 70% in native breeds specifically (Rendle et al., 2018). Obesity is closely associated with laminitis risk due to the associated insulin dysregulation that can occur in significantly overweight horses and ponies. A common recommendation is to soak hay to reduce the non-structural carbohydrate content of the forage in a bid to manage weight and laminitis risk in those that are insulin dysregulated. This not only increases water use, but hay soaking studies have also found the resultant hay soaking liquor is a potential hazard to the environment (Warr and Petch, 1992).

In the Executive Summary of the British Equestrian Federation Environmental Sustainability Report (BEF Executive Summary) it is recognised that “water shortages are forecast to become a serious problem in Britain within 25 years” and that “understanding that all businesses and individuals will be expected to reduce their water consumption in the coming years, it is imperative that we seek to find sustainable ways to be able to maintain a ready access to water for our horses, whilst also minimising our use in other areas”.

Some yards already forbid the soaking of hay to reduce its non-structural carbohydrate content so if you are the owner of an overweight horse or laminitis prone individual what’s your alternative in this situation?

Firstly, you could consider buying forage that has been analysed and is nutritionally appropriate for your horse. However, analysis is costly and not everyone has the luxury of buying all the forage they need until the next harvest, so this isn’t always a practical option. Another alternative is to mix straw through the forage ration to reduce the overall energy intake and to reduce the non-structural carbohydrate of the ration.

Some people are reluctant to try straw in their forage ration as they have heard that it increases the risk of impaction colic and gastric ulcers. Whilst we do need to be aware of colic risk, the biggest risk is from sudden dietary change, or from a horse that is unable to chew efficiently. If you want to try straw as part of your horse’s forage ration the key advice is that your horse must have good dentition, and that straw must be introduced gradually to the feeding regime.

Research by Jansson et al., (2021) has shown that feeding up to 50% of the forage ration as straw is acceptable and doesn’t increase the risk of Equine Gastric Ulcer Syndrome (EGUS). They also found in this study that the use of straw slowed the rate of eating so significantly that the insulinemic response was negligible. This is particularly beneficial for those that are laminitis-prone due to underlying insulin dysregulation, further supporting the use of straw for laminitis and weight management.

Beyond the benefit to the horse, straw also has a low carbon footprint as the cereals are being grown for their use in the human food and animal feed industry.

Protein – enough but not too much

Excess protein consumption results in higher levels of nitrogen being excreted via manure or, after conversion in the liver to urea, in urine. Conversion of nitrogen in the faeces and of urea to ammonia and nitrate is of environmental concern particularly if it reaches waterways. For this reason, there are strict rules regarding keeping horses and dealing with waste, click here to read more.

A recent analysis of current feeding practices in the Netherlands indicated that many equine diets offered excess energy, crude protein and some minerals which may have environmental consequences (Karasu and Rogers, 2024). So how do we know if we are feeding enough, or too much protein?

This is where working with a nutritionist who can utilise a ration evaluation programme can help. Information about your horse and their current diet can be inputted into the ration evaluation programme and compared to requirements to show whether nutrients are supplied at an appropriate level. Some assumptions are usually made as average values for pasture and forages are typically used as it isn’t common for individual horse owners to get their forage tested.

Those most likely to require additional protein, or more specifically supplementation with the essential amino acid lysine which is a building block of protein that must be taken in the diet, are those with the highest demands such as broodmares and youngstock. Additionally, those that are on very restricted or no grazing and that have soaked forage or straw as most of their diet will require additional supplementation.

The graph below produced using the equine ration evaluation programme PC Horse, shows a 500kg horse being fed a dieting ration of 5kg of Meadow Hay and 4kg of Oat Straw. Whist it is desirable that the amount of energy supplied is below requirement, you can see that many other nutrients are also deficient including the essential amino acid lysine and the overall amount of protein which should be corrected to provide a balanced diet in addition to supplying supplementary vitamins and minerals.

graph

By comparison the following graph shows the same 500kg horse being fed unrestricted amounts of spring pasture. In this situation no additional supplementation with protein is required, although it is important to note that some trace minerals are still lacking.

graph

One query we frequently have on the Dengie Feedline is whether additional protein in the diet will help to improve a horse’s muscle condition or topline. This isn’t a surprising enquiry as walk into any supermarket, and you will be bombarded with supplements and foods that are marketed as being high in protein to fuel workout performance and build muscle mass. It is natural to assume that we will get the same benefits if we do the same with our horse.

In practice once the horse’s requirements for energy and protein, or more specifically the essential lysine, are met exercise is the most critical factor for promoting muscle development in addition to being free from injury or other conditions that affect the way the horse moves. If the horse’s weight is good and if on balance what’s being fed appears to meet requirements, don’t be offended if we suggest that exercise that is of sufficient nature to challenge your horse will be more successful than supplying more protein to build muscle mass – after all we’re thinking of the planet in addition to your horse’s needs.

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