Course Title: Equine Science

Lesson Title: Determine Nutrient Requirements of Horses

TEKS Addressed in Lesson:

  1. 130.5 (c) (2)-A

Lesson Objectives. The student will be able to:

  1. Identify the digestive system of the horse
  2. Determine the importance of adequate nutrition in horses for body condition score
  3. Identify nutritional requirements for mature, growing, working, pregnant, and lactating horses
  4. Discuss feeding practices in horses

6.  Analyze a feed tag to determine feeding practices

Tools and Equipment

  1. PPT: Determine nutrient requirements of horses

Key Terms / Vocabulary

  1. Hind gut fermenter
  2. Body condition score
  3. Concentrate
  4. Roughage

Interest Approach/Anticipatory Set

  1. Link: Imagine you only ate lettuce—what nutrients would you be missing? Would taking a multivitamin fix your nutrition issues?
  2. Motivation: Horses have a unique digestive system and thus have specific nutritional requirements; Just like if you only ate lettuce, horses must have their nutrition tailored to their specific needs.
  3. Overview: Identify the digestive system of the horse; Determine the importance of adequate nutrition in horses for body condition score; Identify nutritional requirements for mature, growing, working, pregnant, and lactating horses; Discuss feeding practices in horses; Analyze a feed tag to determine feeding practices.

Teaching Plan and Strategy / Presentation of New Material

  1. Open the PPT titled Evaluate and Select Horses
  2. Progress through the slides and teach the material allowing students time for discussion on each slide
  3. Identify the parts of the digestive system in the horse:
  5. This means that they use bacteria in the Caecum to digest roughages (hay and grass).
  6. Cows are ruminants (a four compartment stomach)
  7. Though horses and cows both digest roughage, they way they do it is very different
  8. Nutritional Requirements:
  9. The first step in nutrition is knowing what you are feeding. Remember, horses live a lot longer than most other livestock used for food. Feeding them can have a huge impact on their lifespan, productivity, and performance. We feed based on category:
  10. Maintenance
  11. Growth
  12. Pregnancy and Lactation
  13. Work
  14. Body Condition Scores:
  15. Horses at the extremes will need to have requirements adjusted to move them toward the middle of the score (around a 5). Range is from 1 (very thin) to 9 (very fat)
  16. What do we feed?
  17. Most feeds we purchase are already balanced for adequate nutrition.
  18. Typically horses also receive about 10% of their body weight in forage in the form of pasture grazing or hay.
  19. We should be careful about adding supplements. Just because they sound like a good idea does not mean they can’t hurt your horse.
  20. A balanced ration has everything they need!
  21. What is in my feed?
  22. Energy
  23. Protein and Amino Acids
  24. Minerals
  25. Vitamins
  26. Feed comes in different forms
  27. Textured (sweet feed)
  28. Pellets
  29. Mulit-particle
  30. Chunks
  31. Extruded (like dog food)
  32. Feed Tag Trivia
  33. What is the percentage of protein in this feed? 14%
  34. What is the percentage of energy (hint: FAT) in this feed? 7%
  35. What type of horses should receive this feed? Maintenance, performance, and breeding
  36. How much would I feed a 1000 pound horse at the maintenance level per day? (1000/100)x.25=2.5 Ibs/day
  37. How much hay is recommended with this feed? 1 to 1.75 lbs per 100 lbs bodyweight daily
  38. If I am feeding a 1000 pound horse, how much hay would I feed per day? 10-17.5 lbs of hay per day
  39. What to feed?
  40. High quality commercially mixed feed,
  41. High quality pasture or hay,
  42. We also need to be sure that there is an adequate supply of clean, fresh water

Activity/Application/ Student Engagement /Laboratory

  1. Create your Feeding Scenario:
  2. Write your own scenario for a horse you need to feed. Include the following information about your horse in your scenario:
  3. Age and use
  4. Weight in pounds
  5. Level of activity
  6. Body Condition Score
  7. Confinement, pasture, etc.
  8. Using the feed label, determine how much your horse should be fed for concentrate (feed) and roughage (hay/pasture). Be prepared to share with your classmates.

Evaluation / Summary

  1. Questions for review:
  2. What type of digestive system does the horse have? Hind Gut Fermenter
  3. What is a body condition score? Scoring system from 1-9 (thin to fat)
  4. How do we use the body condition score in equine nutrition?
  5. Adjust up or down based on current and desired condition
  6. Are nutrient requirements higher or lower for the following?
  7. Pregnant or lactating mare HIGHER
  8. Working horse such as a barrel racer HIGHER
  9. Young growing horse HIGHER
  10. Mature horse turned out on pasture LOWER
  11. What is a concentrate? Mixed feed such as pellets or sweet feed
  12. What is a roughage? Hay or pasture
  13. Summary:

a.  Read the LABEL– be sure you are feeding what you should be feeding.

b.  If your horse is not responding as anticipated, you should ask a veterinarian to determine if there are problems with teeth, etc.

c.  Feeding horses isn’t complicated, but it is one of the most important jobs we have in taking care of our horse.

References/Additional Materials / Extended Learning Opportunities/ Enrichment

1.  The Merck Veterinary Manual—Nutrition in Horses: http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/management_and_nutrition/nutrition_horses/overview_of_nutrition_horses.html

2.  Watch 3D Horse Digestion Guide from Purina Mills TV: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=maWXVKI-gq4

3.  Have students bring in feed labels from home to analyze given scenarios.

4.  Use trash bags to simulate the length of the horse digestive tract—use a small kitchen sack for the stomach, larger sacks for the small intestines, and large commercial sacks for the large intestines. Here is a similar video with this activity: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lqk7igz9L4

5.  Have students find pictures for each of the body condition scores.

6.  Have students conduct research on colic, an intestinal disorder that often leads to death.

College & Career Readiness Standard:

English Language Arts: V. Research, B, 1, a-b

Science: VI: Biology, E. 1, F. 1-2

Social Studies: IV. Analysis, Synthesis, and Evaluation of Information. B, 2-4; V. Effective Communication. A. 1-2.

Developed by the Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education & Communications,

Texas A&M University

for the Texas Education Agency, Educational Excellence Project for AFNR

©Texas Education Agency, 2015