What is the best way to feed an older horse to increase energy without making laminitis more likely?
Processed grains such as micronized, extruded or steam flaked grains have been heat processed which will assist the horse in digesting the starch inside the grain earlier in the digestive process. Grain digested in the small intestine will yield more energy to the horse than if the grain is digested in the large intestine. It will also reduce the risk of overloading the large intestine with grain which increases the risk of problems such as colic, laminitis and acidosis. Adding fat to a horse’s diet can be of great benefit as the older horse still digests fat quite well. Fats or oils can be simply top dressed onto the feed or already mixed in premixed feeds. Oils energy is around 2.25 times the energy of cereal grains so a lot less feed is required to meet the horse’s energy requirements. Formulating rations specifically for the senior equine is a recently new phenomenon. These feeds should be formulated with easily digestible energy and protein with vitamin and mineral levels all take
