calming - feeding fat and fibre

FEEDING FOR IMPROVED BEHAVIOUR Calming Fats and FibreFats and Fibre are recognised as excellent feed sources for horses, especially those prone to anxiety, hyper-reactivityor metabolic problems like tying-up or founder. They provide a 'cool' source of fuel, which helps promote goodhormonal and metabolic balance. Highly digestible, they are a good alternative to starches and sugars from grain.

Sources

Fat is found mainly in oils, rice bran, coconut meal,linseed and sunflower seeds, and high-fatsupplements like EquiJewel. Fibre is found in mostfeeds, including grains and grass, but good sourcesinc lude lucerne hay and beet pulp in particular. Upto 20% of the horse's ration can come from fats, andfibre in the form of forage shoud ideally make up atleast 50% of the ration (or 1-3% of the horse'sbodyweight daily). Low quality fibre reduces thedigestibility of all feeds in the gut, so needs to beavoided where possible.

Digestion

Fats have up to 2.5 times the digestible energy of carbs orprotein. Energy from fat is released slowly, with no glucosespikes. As it is digested entirely in the small intestine, itdoes not generate any heat as waste energy. Fat-addedfeeds are usually low in soluble carbohydrates, which areimplicated in hyper-reactive behaviour and anxiety.

Fibre also has a low glycemic index, and releases energyslowly as it is digested in the hind gut. Fibre fermentationuses a lot of water, and promotes drinking, as well asbloodflow to the gut., keeping it active and healthy.

Metabolic Processes

Dietary fats are converted in the smallintestine to body fat, or used immediately asenergy sources for aerobic activity (pleasureriding and endurance). Fats cannot beconverted to glycogen, the fuel used formore intensive anaerobic activity. Glycogenis, however, produced from thefermentation of fibre in the hindgut, whichmakes Volatile Fatty Acids that aretransported to the liver and then eitherconverted to glucose (liver glycogen) orconverted to body fat. 'Super fibres' likebeet pulp have similar energy balances tograins, but are more conducive to digestiveand metabolic balance. Thus, both fats andfibre provide a lot of energy without 'fizz'.

Results

Rebalancing a 'hot' horse's diet awayfrom starches and sugars, and onto fatsand fibres, witll help reduce hyper-reactivity, anxiety and other metabolicproblems. It will also reduce the risk ofoverheating during exercise, anddistress caused by lactic acid orintestinal discomfort. Forage access canalso reduce stress behaviour likecribbing and stall walking.

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Indications

Fat is a very good alternative to grains forhorses prone to 'fizziness', or metabolicsyndromes like tying-up and laminitis. Fibreis a requirement for every horse, and anincrease in good quality sources will reducethe risk of digestive issues and discomfort.

Contraindications

Obese horses shoud avoid fat, and all energydense feed. Obesity leads to insulin resistance,which has serious implications. Also, as energyfrom fat is much more digestible, care shouldbe taken not to overfeed, as excess energy willactually cause more excitability!

Physiological Effects

Fat stored in the body is a source of leptin, a hormone that isreleased into the bloodstream which helps break the stress feedbackcycle of the HPA (hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal gland) axis, whichis the source of hyper-reactive behaviour. Feeding high fat snackstriggers a wave of leptin in the system that inhibits CRH, a stresshormone, and so reduces anxiety. As such, a small fat-dense mealprior to training may assist with relaxation and confidence.

Dietary fat, when combined with lecithin, also helps reducespontaneous activity in horses. It also helps the body make use of itsexisting fat stores as a cool source of energy for aerobic exercise.Omega 3 fatty acids also improve blood flow and help the bodyprocess lactate, reducing muscle pain and associated distress duringanaerobic activity. High intake of fibre leads to abundant glycogenstores, the best anaerobic fuel source. So a diet of fat and fibreprovides the right kind of fuel for most kinds of ridden activities.

Note: Any new feed should be introduced gradually into the diet.

Canola oil is the safest oilfor feeding horses