Insulin Resistant or Laminitic Horse? Some Quick Thoughts on Hay and Feed
Submitted by: Tanner Farms
Phone: 240-401-4856
Email Address: tannerfarms(at)gmail.com
Date Added: 9/18/2015
Horses diagnosed as being insulin resistant or having laminitis require special attention when it comes to feeding hay. Just looking at a bale of hay doesn’t tell you what’s actually in the hay that you are about to feed your horse. Sure, you can spot weeds, determine color, whether or not it’s dusty, and even what type of hay it is from the “head”, but what about the sugar and starch content?
A common rule of thumb, though rudimentary and not applicable to all laminitic or insulin resistant horses, is that the Non-Structural Carbohydrates (“NSC”) should be targeted at 10% or less dry matter. In basic form, NSC is the sum of Water Soluble Carbs plus Starch (NSC=WSC + Starch). So in a recent sample of my hay, the WSC on %DM (percent dry matter) was 8.5 and the starch was .4, resulting in an ESC of 8.9% dry matter. Since we are under the 10% DM – the number many vets believe to be good for horses in trouble – this hay a good fit, all else being equal quality wise (such as protein and trace minerals).
I’ve seen and heard of people “soaking” or “Steaming” their hay to reduce the carbohydrates. They say soaking hay in hot water for 30 minutes, you can reduce 20 to 30 percent of the carbohydrates. I suppose if you have the time to do this, great, but I think it’s easier to buy tested hay that fits your horse’s dietary needs.
Did you know that the time of day the hay was cut has a direct impact on the sugar content? The
Total NSC (sugars and starch) content of hay is at its lowest at sunrise. After sunrise, the hay starts photosynthesis to fix sugar, allowing the total NSC concentration to increase throughout the day and reaching a peak in late afternoon. So if you don’t have a hay analysis done, at least know when your hay was cut. If early in the morning, say before 10am, the better chance the hay you are getting has a lower ESC level than hay cut in the afternoon or evening.
What about when your horse is in the pasture? It’s generally best if you let your horse graze early in the morning for the same reason we cut hay for the equine market early in the morning, as opposed to cow hay which is generally cut in the evening to achieve the highest sugar content. However, I’ve read that in the fall, when days are warm and sunny and nights are really cool and we have these wide temperature variations between day and night, you should generally avoid morning grazing because the plants haven’t used up its energy store of ESC’s overnight.
Bottom line is to follow your vet’s recommendations. Based on that, you need to know what is in your hay, and know your hay supplier, and let your hay supplier know about your animals and if your animals have any special needs. I’d always recommend buying hay from a farmer/grower, because he/she will know a great deal about their practices and how the hay was made versus buying hay from a feed store or a “hay broker”.
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