Equine Nutrition and Conditioning
This domain tests ration evaluation, digestive physiology, body condition scoring, and training principles that reduce injury and support recovery. Expect questions on forage minimums, energy requirements, and conditioning progression.
Core rules
- Horses are hindgut fermenters. Forage should form the base of the ration, commonly 1.5–2% of body weight as dry matter daily. Abrupt changes in concentrate or forage can disrupt hindgut flora.
- Water intake varies with diet, work, and weather; a 500 kg horse may drink 30–50 L/day. Electrolytes support sweating but should not replace free water.
- Body condition score (Henneke 1–9) and cresty neck score are practical monitoring tools. Obesity raises insulin dysregulation and laminitis risk.
- Conditioning follows overload, specificity, progression, and recovery. Aerobic base work precedes high-intensity interval work; long slow distance improves oxidative capacity, while intervals improve speed and anaerobic capacity.
- Glycogen resynthesis takes 24–48 hours; repeated hard work without recovery depletes stores and increases injury risk.
Worked example
A 500 kg horse in light work needs roughly 20–22 Mcal digestible energy per day. If it eats 10 kg of hay at 1.8 Mcal/kg, that supplies 18 Mcal. Reasoning: the ration is about 2–4 Mcal short. Before adding a high-starch concentrate, check hay quality, body condition, and workload; a small amount of a balanced concentrate or more energy-dense forage may close the gap.
Traps
Feeding large starch meals; using body weight alone instead of body condition; starting hard work without a base; and assuming a sweating horse only needs salt, not water.