By Nikita Stowers, MSC, BSc, BBS

Getting any hay is difficult this season, let alone getting low sugar hay that is suitable for our horses.  So what can you do if you can’t get hold of low sugar hay - or any hay at all for that matter?  I’d like to share some feeds and strategies here, to help you provide effective amounts of forage for your horse to maintain a healthy gut and good condition.

First let’s talk about why Hay is so important for our horses.

All horses need at least 1.5% of their bodyweight per day in dry matter fibre to maintain a healthy gut. ‘Dry matter fibre’ means the fibre that is left after all the water is removed, and it’s important to know that pasture grass can be 75-80% water, so the dry matter component is only about 20%, meaning if they eat 10kg of grass they only get 2kg of dry matter fibre. Haylage is around 60% water, and Hay is ideally around 15% water so the dry matter is much higher at 85% of the overall weight.

Horses need approximately a bale of hay each day (for an average 500kg horse), or 24/7 access to pasture to meet this requirement. Let that sink in for a second! That’s a lot of fibre! 

As soon as we start to take our horses off pasture for travelling, riding, the farrier, or grooming, we may cut into the valuable grazing time that our horse needs.  That’s why it’s so important to always give your horse access to ad-lib forage when we take away their ability to graze naturally. 

Aside from all the nutrition that they will gain from eating pasture or hay, the fibre in your horse’s forage ensures the horse’s hindgut stays healthy. 

Why is fibre so crucial for good gut health in horses?

To put it simply, like us, horses are unable to digest plant fibre or structural carbohydrate. However, unlike us, horses have evolved with a hugely developed hindgut full of microbes (bugs) that are able to turn this indigestible fibre into useable energy for the horse. For most horses, fibre will provide 50-70% of their energy, so we really need to make sure we look after these bugs. If we don’t feed our horse enough fibre, the bugs in the hindgut won’t thrive and provide your horse with the energy it needs. What you will normally see then is a drop off in energy, poorer performance and weight loss.

Carbohydrates in hay and pasture

It is important to realise that our pasture or hay is made up of both Structural and Non-Structural Carbohydrates. The Structural part is like the walls of the plant holding it together.  This is the fibre we want to get into the horse’s hindgut so it can be broken down by the bugs which then gives the horse energy. The non-structural carbohydrate (NSC) component is the simple sugars and starch that are easily broken down by the horse in their stomach and small intestine, and don’t need the help of the bugs in the hindgut. 

So when we are looking for low sugar hay for our horses, we are looking for hay that is lower in NSC, and higher in the Structural carbohydrate, so it provides ample food for the bugs in the hindgut, and helps to keep the horse’s gut healthy.

There are also many health conditions that mean you may need to feed a horse a diet low in sugar, like for horses with EMS, Laminitis, Cushings/PPID, or horses that are prone to tying up.

Options for feeding and management if you can’t get low sugar hay

1).  Offer your horse alternative low sugar forage or fibre sources. 

This will be especially important coming into spring as the pasture sugar level starts to rise.  Remember a horse has a relatively fixed feed intake each day so if we fill them up on lower sugar forages, they will eat less of the sugary pasture.  A list of suitable fibre sources can be found below.  It is important to still read the bag to understand if this product will be suitable for your situation. 

High fibre feeds that may be suitable for your horse:

If your horse is severely overweight you may also like to try including straw as part of the horses diet.  A recent study carried out in 2021* found that including straw as 50% of the forage for horses resulted in longer feed intake time, reduced energy intake and plasma insulin levels which may help with horses suffering with EMS or insulin dysregulation. However, it is important to only use Straw as part of your horses diet and not the sole forage source, especially as another field study showed that horses fed a Straw as their only fibre source were at an increased risk of gastric ulceration** and straw may also contain high levels of indigestible lignin, which can lead to digestive complications like impaction if consumed in large quantities.

2.  Soak ‘normal’ hay overnight

If you’re unable to purchase low sugar hay but you can get hold of some hay that is good quality and free of mould or dust, you can get the hay analysed to determine the sugar and starch (NSC) level, and you may then decide to soak this hay.

As a general rule of thumb you can reduce the sugars in your hay by approximately 10% in one hour and this will increase to approximately 30% if you soak the hay overnight, so if you find out your hay’s original sugar level you can see if soaking is a good option for you. 

Also, keep in mind that in warmer temperatures it’s better to soak for shorter periods of time to reduce the risk of microbial growth on the hay.

3.  Put your horses out to graze pasture when the sugar level is lowest. 

Along with filling your horse up on alternative fibre sources and soaking hay, you can also reduce your horse’s sugar intake by grazing them early in the morning and taking them off the pasture when sugar levels are highest, later during the day.  Make sure you fill them up while they are off the pasture during the day on your lower sugar, fibre alternatives, and so they don’t go out to graze at night hungry, as they might scoff the grass and undo all of your hard work trying to reduce their sugar intake. 

4.  Get extra help from Poseidon Animal Health.

If you’ve done everything you can and you’re still having trouble with your horse’s sugar intake, it may be time to think outside the box.  MetaboLize® from Poseidon Animal Health was proven in a Vet Supervised Field Trial to reduce cresty neck, fat lumps and circulating glucose in the horses’ bloodstreams. 

If you are doing everything you can with your horse’s diet and are still not getting the results you want, or if your horse is suffering from Laminitis, EMS or PPID/Cushings, then try the all-natural plant based MetaboLize®.  You and your horse really have nothing to lose, apart from unwanted sugars!

References:

* Jansson A, Harris P, Davey SL, Luthersson N, Ragnarsson S, Ringmark S. Straw as an Alternative to Grass Forage in Horses-Effects on Post-Prandial Metabolic Profile, Energy Intake, Behaviour and Gastric Ulceration. Animals (Basel). 2021 Jul 24;11(8):2197. doi: 10.3390/ani11082197. PMID: 34438656; PMCID: PMC8388405.

** Luthersson N., Nielsen K.H., Harris P., Parkin T.D. Risk factors associated with equine gastric ulceration syndrome (EGUS) in 201 horses in Denmark. Equine Vet. J. 2009;41:625–630. doi: 10.2746/042516409X441929.

Thank you to Karine Avetisyan for the image.