Oil as an energy source instead of starches
The horse, from a nutritional point of view, is one of the most delicate animals and for this reason attention must be paid to the choice of the type of food administered and, to a greater extent, to concentrates (cereals and feeds).
Furthermore, in the sport horse, the attention to be paid to correct nutrition is even greater, because at the base of the performance of these subjects there is the transformation of chemical energy, taken with food, into mechanical energy given by muscle movements.
Since the horse cannot eat while working, the energy from food must be stored and released when needed; this process occurs in various ways, namely as an intramuscular deposit in the form of glycogen or as an extra-muscular deposit in the form of adipose tissue and hepatic glycogen. The main purpose, although certainly not the only one, of any rationing is to maintain a balance between consumption, during physical activity, and reconstitution, during rest, of these metabolic reserves.
Energy sources
Horses have several food sources from which to draw energy to store and they are mainly represented by:
- Non-structural carbohydrates (NSC)
Which are mainly composed of sugars and starches, and to a lesser extent by the so-called soluble fiber (pectins and oligosaccharides). - Structural carbohydrates (SC)
Which are made up of most of the constituents of the cell wall, including lignin, cellulose and hemicellulose. Lignin is completely indigestible even for the horse, while cellulose and hemicellulose are fermented by the flora present in the large intestine (mainly inside the cecum) indirectly providing energy also to the host in the form of volatile fatty acids (VFA). - Fats
Lipids provide a much higher energy content than carbohydrates, about 2.25 times compared to the latter, and therefore represent a high-density energy source. - Proteins
In principle, even if they can be usefully converted by the body into energy, their main function is plastic, that is to say that their constituent amino acids serve to fuel the anabolic functions of the body (for example muscle mass increase) more than the catabolic ones.
The risks of excess starch
Horses fed with rations excessively rich in non-structural carbohydrates, typically diets with many cereals often flaked, are subject to the risk of colic and laminitis. This is because undigested starches in the small intestine, once they reach the large intestine, can cause significant alterations in the microbiota balances.
The main reason for this problem is due to the fact that amylase, the enzyme that initiates the digestive process of starch, is much less represented in the horse than in other animal species. For this reason it is advisable not to administer more than 4 g of starch per kg of body weight, and staying well below this limit is certainly better.
In fact, as previously stated, it is very important that the digestion of starches is completed in the small intestine, as the surplus of undigested starch would be fermented in the large intestine (mainly in the cecum) favoring the uncontrolled development of some harmful bacterial strains. Depending on the type of flora alterations, both colic and pododermatitis could therefore occur. For this reason it is very important not to exceed in the administration of cereals.
The advantages of fats and fibers
Conversely, the energy derived from the use of fats and both soluble and non-soluble fibers is safer and therefore healthier for horses as well as being better used and stored as a reserve energy source.
For all these reasons HorseNutrition, bucking the market trend, has for many years balanced its products so as to provide relatively small quantities of starches and sugars, and at the same time has favored the use of lipids and fermentable fibers of high quality.
