Clinical nutrition

Question 1

what is the daily matter intake requirement

Answer 1

1.5% BW dry matter intake per day
10-20% individual variation in energy requirements
Horses have a finite appetite which influences what volume that can be fed,

Question 2

How do you asses BCS of a horses

Answer 2

9 pint scale of body condition
asses body morphemetry (muscle and fat) at neck, wither, behind shoulder, ribs, topline, tailhead
1BCS - 20-40kg
ideal 405

Question 3

How do you do a body weight estimate on a horses

Answer 3

Lenght and girth
BW = heart girst x lenght
heart girth - juts behind the elbows
lenght - point of shoulder to tuber coxae

Question 4

what are the general feeding requirements for maintance

Answer 4

pasture+/- good quality gras hay
free choice salt and mineral block
leucerne hay if required

Question 5

what are the general feeding requirement for exercise/high demand

Answer 5

add complete or pellted concentrate feed
Concentrate feed never exeeding 50% of total diet
Usually no more than 25%

Question 6

what are th 4 basic types of feed concentrates

Answer 6

1. complete feeds (i.e senior feed)
2. textured sweet feeds
3. Pelleted grain mix feeds
4. supplements

Question 7

Feeding for obesity

Answer 7

limit pasture access; unable to quantify intake and therefore energy intake 
- short <1hr turnout or hand grazing 
- confinment in a small paddock 
- grazing muzzle 
Remove concentrate feeds 
feed hary 1.5% BW for 30 days

Question 8

feeding intestinal injury

Answer 8

high digestibility
- gut mucosa enterocytes rely on local sources of energy
FA are sourced from intestinal contents not blood
Large colon - butyrate
small intestine - glutamate
Need to feed gut microbes to feed colon

Question 9

Feeding elderly horses

Answer 9

dental disease/inadequacies
- reduced ability to masticate fiber
extract very little nurttional benefit from poor quality hay/pasture alone
- risk of choke, colon impaction
==> diets formulated for older horses - high palatibility, high digestability, high fiber
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Question 10

Feeding starved horses

Answer 10

BCS <2
Identify the cause 
refeeding syndrome 
- aggressive reffeeding can result in potential fatal shift in fluid and electrolytes 
due to hormonal and metabolic responses

Very slow reintroduction of feed ==> closebiochemical monitoring