Sugar = spice: why we really are what we eat!
In a previous blog, I talked a about the tendancy for Spanish horses to suffer from EMS or ID (Insulin Dysregulation). It’s common in many native breeds, who tend to love their food more than it loves them!
I’ve also talked about the impact of Spring grass on C’s itching: how moving to fresh green pasture immediately meant an increase in itchy-ness for us, which only subsided as the grass was eaten down.
On social media I see so many owners with newly diagnosed sweet itch horses, struggling even after they’ve done all the recommended treatments, spent a small fortune on rugs and yet their horses are still itchy and they’re wondering why.
So my next question would be, what are they eating? What is their grass like? Good (rich!) UK pastures look beautiful and our horses love them - but they could, potentially, be part of your problem.
Feeding on a DIY track system
This year, I created a small DIY track system around one paddock and put my brave pants on!
Historically, I’ve used polyfencing to keep my horses away from the fencing (itch/scratch prevention), so to use fencing to keep them on a track next to the fence felt wrong.
But once past the first week or two where the grass was eaten down, the itching was reduced to a casual bum rub or head itch, rather than that angry, self-harming itching which does so much damage.
In the absence of grass I needed to top up my horses feed. I’ve used a combination of soaked hay (soaked for 30-60 minutes to reduce dust spores, rather than sugar) and low sugar commercially bagged haylage. [Side note: We were unfortunate to experience respiratory issues in March which on the vets advice meant switching from unsoaked hay, to soaking or steaming, or commercial haylage following a period of prescription medication (steroids). The improvement was almost immediate.]
Knowing I have horses who don’t need the calories, nor the fizz of ‘typical’ haylage I stuck to the safe space of commercially bagged low sugar haylage. But having purchased great quality hay from a local farmer for several years -which I collected in the back of my car as I never normally needed much - I’d got to the point I was collecting so often it was hard work and super ineffecient.
Feeding on our DIY track
I wanted to try alternatives, so visited another local farmer who had first and second cut hay available from the previous two years and was happy for me to take samples to see what happened before selecting a large bale for delivery. I am so glad I did!
Once again, I soaked the hay for 30-60 minutes, just in case the dust spores caused respiratory issues, and I only added one net of the new hay into the feed mix each night so it was balanced with hay and haylage they were happy on and familiar with.
Clearly the hay was higher in non-structural carbohydrates (NSCs) - i.e. sugars and starches - than the other hay I was feeding. How do I know? Because the minute it was available as a feed choice, C was guarding it from the others. And when there were eight piles of hay/haylage to choose from, dotted around the track, he would go round them all until he located it.
In fact on the night it wasn’t there, and he couldn’t find it, he snorted with disgust and bronc’d his way around the track. After that he decided it wasn’t worth the stress and went back to normal, thankfully!
How did higher NSC hay impact my horse’s behaviour?
So, here’s the interesting part… My ‘fed on a track system with low sugar haylage horse’ has been a delight to ride. He’s polite, super chilled and easy to handle. We have a wall of hedging at the back of our arena and while we’re warming up, he loves a cheeky nibble on the branches. He knows no shame…
BUT - two days into a relatively small sample of the new hay and he is a different horse. This horse, starts spooking halfway up the arena, spinning constantly. This horse, won’t go anywhere near the scary hedge he ate from just the day before and again, is spinning and wild eyed, looking for the next source of danger.
I would say he near unrideable, but I persevered and spent the next 30-minutes riding teeny tiny circles to get his concentration back - gradually working my way towards the back of the arena and the very scary hedge. Small movements that require lots of concentration really do help in moments where his braincells have fallen out. But it isn’t pleasant!
Two days later, with no more new hay - same track, same feed in absolutely every other respect - and he is completely back to normal.
Ironically, he wasn’t itchy on this hay (typical!) but the change in behaviour was huge. And it made me wonder how many horses you see on adverts about spooking - or who are labelled as naughty or unpredictable, are actually struggling with something in their diet?
Do they need a calmer - or do they need a complete review of what’s in their bucket feed and haynet? Have you tested their hay? Is it worth speaking to an equine nutritionist?
And for those horses fed mostly on grass - what happened the previous day? Did it rain and we get a surge in high sugar grass growth?
Experience suggests it’s worth checking for environmental changes first before reaching for the calmer.
