7 Nutritional Obstacles That Are Impeding Your Horse's Health

By Sarah Griffiths, DCH

In their native environment, horses are resilient & self-sufficient. So why are they struggling so much in modern barn settings? Digestive & metabolic diseases remain the number causes of death in domestic horses. Modern feed & care programs are direct obstacles to equine health.

The most scientific way to approach domestic animal husbandry is to study a species’ ancestry, including their original ecological environment, diet, biomechanics, behaviour and social order.

Modern equine food science is primitive in relation to the 200 million year process of evolution that horses have undergone. In epigenetic terms, it is clear that modern equine health issues including ulcers, colic & insulin resistance are directly related to human error: obstacles to health, especially when it comes to nutrition.

Here are 7 obstacles that need to be taken seriously if your horse is struggling with their health:

Obstacle # 1: Did you know? The ancestral diet of horses includes over 42 species of plants including: Grasses, shrubs, forbes, trees and even living soil. Mono-diets (one forage source plus one feed source) are a far cry from what horses evolved to eat. Given the state of equine health, we owe it to horses to find new solutions to help prevent ulcers, colic, insulin resistance and laminitis.

Gut and metabolic disease, logically, have enormous nutritional components. The good news: we have a lot of control over how we feed our horses! Start by simply diversifying your horse’s diet. If they are used to eating only one thing, they will be more sensitive to changes and will need you to go slowly to avoid digestive upset. It’s well-worth it! Go slow and steady and observe what works well for you horse and what doesn’t. You can customize the diet a lot by using this principle.

Obstacle # 2:Healthy diet, in human terms, is defined across the globe by variety, freshness & avoidance of highly processed foods. In scientific medical terms, human, pet & equine research shows that highly processed starches & sugars are precursors to inflammation, insulin resistance & gut disease. Today’s horse feeds consist largely of commercially grown wheat, corn, soy, oats, sugar beets, millrun & rice – in highly processed forms.

A varied species-appropriate diet is naturally low in processed starch & high in prebiotic fibres which is essential for preventing nutritional disease in horses. 

Obstacle # 3: For 200 million years, horses have evolved a highly specialized hind gut fermentation system. It requires diversified fibre types from multiple plant sources. The more diversity acquired by diet, the healthier the gut microbiome, resulting is a more resilient gut system. Remember, fibre is prebiotic and the gut microbiome mirrors the fibre sources consumed.

Lack of diversity in fibre sources is reflected by lack of biodiversity in the gut microbiome. Most domestic horses are not receiving enough dietary fibre nor are they receiving diversity in fibre. One or two fibre sources are not enough, despite the guidelines of the National Research Council. Include as much variety as possible in species-appropriate terms – eg. grasses, shrubs, herbs, etc. 

Obstacle # 4: The National Research Council (NRC) is the authority on equine nutritional requirements & is followed by equine veterinarians & feed producers. They regularly review scientific research to create the most accurate profile of what horses need in terms of proteins, fats, fibre, carbs, minerals and vitamins. The NRC admits to countless nutritional unknowns & many of their estimates are based on the avoidance of nutritional deficiency, not what keeps horses thriving.

Using a species-focused nutrition plan & then using NRC recommendations as reference allows for the creation of a more accurate and healthy nutritional profile.

Obstacle # 5:The NRC does not focus on species-specific food sources. They cater to feed producers to allow them to create mathematically accurate feed formulations with the highest profit margin possible. Allowable ingredients include waste products from the agricultural and baking industries and other unhealthy options too. Ingredients that can (and often do) end up in feed formulations include: soy hulls, millrun, wheat, flour, sugar beet pulp, canola meal, cottonseed meal, corn by-products, rejected grain & legume products and more.

Be wary of marketing terms like “high fibre” and “high digestibility” as these can indicate poor quietly ingredients that don’t belong in your horse’s body. Eliminate industrialized agriculture products from your horse’s diet. 

Obstacle # 6: Alfatoxin contamination is a real and dangerous risk in the animal feed industry. Alflatoxin is a highly poisonous mould toxin, most commonly associated with the fungus known as aspergillum – black mould. This mould grows readily on improperly stored grain and legumes.

While regulatory measures are strict for human consumption, discarded and rejected grain/legume materials regularly make their way into pet, livestock and horse feeds. If you feed processed grain and/or legumes, you run the risk of feeding alfatoxins to your horse. Period.

Aflatoxin is a known carcinogen and contributes to liver dysfunction and failure and respiratory illnesses like asthma (heaves). Acute toxic loads of alfatoxin can result in death. Avoid them by feeding a grain-free and lentil/soy-free diet – they are not healthy food sources for equines. 

Obstacle # 7: Glyphosate, also known as RoundUp, is a toxic herbicide that has made its way into every food and feed industry and is now systemically poisoning the Earth’s soil, water and ecosystems.

Glyphosate is a patented antibiotic (think gut health), a known endocrine disruptor (think insulin resistance), a carcinogen and should be found near no human, animal or plant on Earth. Every year, approximately 280 million pounds of glyphosate are sprayed onto the planet and into the soil, air and water by the conventional agriculture industry. If you care about the environment, you need to be aware of glyphosate. When you choose to buy products that are farmed using glyphosate, you aren’t just harming your horse, you are purchasing a product that supports this destructive industry that contributes to human illness, animal illness and environmental chaos like soil damage and atmospheric carbon. 

Eliminate this dangerous chemical from your horse’s diet, especially if they are struggling with gut health.

Where we spend our money MATTERS. Choose wisely.