Burning calories
We all know that if energy intake exceeds energy expenditure, the result is weight gain and fat deposition. Any weight loss programme for equines must ensure more energy is expended than is consumed, but workloads are often overestimated. It’s quite common for horses to be classed as being in hard work if they work five days a week.
In reality, however, a daily hack of 25 minutes in walk and trot means that the horse is in light work. Hard work is considered to be working five or six days each week, which could be a mixture of hacking and schooling, but these hacks would consist of a combination of walk, trot and canter, and even gallop work, and the schooling sessions would be relatively intensive. As with ourselves, we know we’re working hard and burning calories when our heart rates are elevated and we’re breathing harder — and the same goes for our horses.
This means that finding the right feed to suit horses prone to weight gain can be difficult. Owners often find that their horses can become quite sluggish, especially during the spring/summer months. At that time, we often get requests for feed to help with a horse’s energy. The short answer in most cases is that energy and calories are exactly the same; if your horse is maintaining his weight well on forage and grazing alone, he is meeting his daily energy requirements. Chances are, if we were to recommend feeding more or using a higher energy feed, the horse would put on additional weight, and the risk of sluggish behaviour and lack of energy during work would increase.