Balancing Digestible Energy (DE) in the Equine Diet

The horse’s Body Condition Score (BCS) always trumps what our daily “Digestible Energy” requirement suggests. Horses are unique individuals that have different calorie requirements & we need to feed as such:

Example: an “above ideal” BCS horse should not be given added calories, even if their calculation suggests that they require more calories. Conversely, if a performance type horse is considered “below ideal” BCS we need to add additional calories to the diet, regardless of the calculation results.

 Daily Digestible Energy (DE) Requirements of the average 1,100 lb horse:

Maintenance Type Horse                          16,500 kcal/day        

Gestation- Final Trimester                        21,000 kcal/day     

Moderate Work                                           23,000 kcal/day        

Lactation- 1^st month                                  32,000 kcal/day

Heavy Work                                                  27,000 kcal/day     

Yearling-2 year old                                     19,000 kcal/day

     Example- Balancing forage DE in the diet:

                  1,100- Moderate Work level Horse =                  23,000 kcal/day

                  The average “Grass Hay” contains = 909 kcal/lb

                  1.5-2% of Body Weight in forage =                       16.5-22 lbs of hay/day

**This horse will require 25.3 lbs of this hay, per day to meet its caloric requirements without the addition of a grain or supplement. This amount exceeds the horses’ daily recommended amount of forage & no consideration for protein and/or vitamins & minerals has been given. In this example it is necessary to supplement the horse’s diet with a grain/concentrate to meet the daily caloric requirements.

We also must remember that caloric recommendations are just that- recommendations. These give us a baseline to work from, but each horse is an individual & we need to feed them according to what their body condition is suggesting they need. Your local equine veterinarian or equine nutritionist can help you determine your horse’s current Body Condition Score (BCS) and what would be considered ideal for their age, breed & working class.

Balancing Protein in the Equine Diet

 It is important to balance protein in the TOTAL DIET, not just protein in your forage or concentrate. It is also very important to remember that while protein is important in the diet, it is amino acids that the horse requires. Amino acids are essential in nutrient absorption & utilization. Verifying guaranteed levels of Lysine, Methionine and Threonine (first 3 limiting amino acids) on your horse’s feed tag ensures the best utilization of protein for muscle maintenance, muscle repair, hair coat, hoof quality and overall topline strength.

To calculate the percentage of protein in your horse’s TOTAL DIET, follow this simple calculation:

( (Lbs Hay x % Protein in Hay) + (Lbs Grain x % Protein in Grain) ) / Total Lbs Fed (hay + grain) = Protein in TOTAL DIET

The average maintenance type horse’s protein requirement is typically met when the horse is consuming 1.5-2% of their body weight in good quality forage.

      Equine Protein Recommendations (in the TOTAL DIET):

           

      Foals:           16-18%          Weanlings:            14-16%    Yearlings:        12-14%        

      Mature Horse:  10-12%          Lactating Mares:  12-14%

     Example Balancing Protein in the Weanling diet:

             

            Weanling daily/protein recommendation     14-16% Protein (total diet)

            1-2% of Body Weight in Hay             6-12 lbs/day

            Feeding an Average Grass Hay                     10.8% Crude Protein

            Grain                                                   2lbs/day of a 16% concentrate

           

((12 lbs X 10.8%) + (2 lbs X 16%)) / (12 + 2) =   11.54% Protein in the TOTAL DIET                                                                                     (deficient in protein)

Increase the lbs of concentrate in the diet (7lbs), and decreasing forage (6 lbs):

((6 lbs X 10.8%) + (7 lbs X 16%)) / (12 + 6) =            14.73% Protein in the TOTAL DIET

                                                                        (meets Protein Requirement**)

**NOTE: Just because we have met the horse’s protein requirement does not mean that we have ALSO met the vitamin & mineral requirements of the horse.

Balancing Vitamin & Minerals in the Equine Diet

Horses fed strictly forage diets (hay or pasture) are almost always found to be deficient in their recommended vitamins & minerals. Most forages exhibit peaks & valleys in their vitamin & mineral content leaving the horse with the same peaks & valleys in their TOTAL diet. These “valleys” or deficiencies will typically manifest themselves in poor-hair quality, poor hoof quality or a general lack of condition in the horse. These might be good indications that your horse has a vitamin/mineral deficiency or imbalance within their diet, but deficiencies can often go visually unnoticed for months or even years.

Over time, deficiencies left unaddressed can contribute or cause your horse to be more susceptible to serious diseases, health conditions and/or decreased longevity.

It is important to remember that horses require a concentrate or supplement in addition to their hay to ensure the diet is balanced. The challenge lies in finding the right product fit whether it be SafeChoice (a concentrate); providing additional calories and the necessary vitamins and minerals, OR Empower Balance (supplement/balancer); which provides minimal calories but all the necessary vitamins and minerals, balancing the diet of the “easy keeper” or strictly forage diet. Concentrates & supplements should be fed at no less than the minimum recommended feeding rate based on your horse’s age and activity level to ensure that they are receiving the proper nutrients.  

Lastly, all horses should have free-choice access to clean water and salt.

** Want to learn more about what’s in your hay and how to balance your horse’s diet? Come to the Northwest Horse Expo March 22-25^th  at the Linn County Expo Center in Albany Oregon and visit the Nutrena booth! We’ll have hay testing with instant results and customized recommendations based on those results. For more info, including how to take a hay sample, go to www.nutrenaworld.com/hay.

Written by Tiffany Towne at Cargill

Rose Care 101 - February Pruning Guide

On President’s Weekend, or maybe earlier if all chance of frost is gone, I begin pruning my roses. 

First:  have all pruners and long handled pruners very sharp.  Have a container of Hydrogen Peroxide to dip pruners in after cutting any roses you know had fungal black spot.  I tend to dip mine & wipe them off after every two or three.  This prevents spreading any disease to further plants.

Second:  Big question is height to prune.  If you show roses and want fewer, but bigger roses, height should be 12 to 18 inches high.  For landscape color—more blossoms, but perhaps smaller, I go thigh high.  I cut off any branch that is smaller than my pointer finger.  Cut all crossing canes and cut out any dark or dead wood.  Cut a 45 degree angle above a bud.  See photo.

The cane on the right is the acceptable cut.  45 degrees with bottom of cut above the opposite base of the bud.   All other cuts will cause death of above cut cane.  The beauty of the rose is that it is very forgiving.  If you mess up on a cut, go lower to the next bud eye and cut again.  If any splitting occurs, also go lower and cut again.

                                         Click Here to Download a PDF Guide to Rose Pruning.

I have been told many times at rose seminars that you prune all roses the same.  I have found that not to be the case.  First of all, I leave all tea roses with fewer good strong canes (usually around eight).  Floribundas I leave more.  The David Austins and shrub roses can be thinned very little.  The exception to the tea roses is Peace, Dr. Brownell, and their descendents.  I cut them according to growth, and a little higher than the other tea roses.  I picked that tip up from a wonderful little old lady years ago, and they have been much happier and more productive since I figured this out.  On climbers leave several good strong canes—basically a tall version of tea roses.  Miniatures are a small version of the same.

With 126 to do, I will be very busy for the next couple weeks.  Happy pruning.  Though I know it is a lot of work, the only thing that hurts a rose is not pruning.  I think of it as molding a piece of art.

My last segment will be next time.  I will tell you exactly how I fertilize and fungicide and insecticide to have beautiful roses all summer long.

Rose Selection with Judy Brownell

 Now that bare-root roses are arriving and our new rose catalogs begin to arrive from various companies, I thought I might share my thoughts about rose selection.  Forty years ago, I picked a rose simply because I might like the color it showed in the picture.  No other flower can offer a gardener more variety;  has a wider range of color, size, or shape than the rose.  They are truly the versatile of all plants.

I helped a lady landscape her rose garden last year who wanted all whites and pinks.  I have done others who wanted all shades of red and nothing else.  Our neighbor has a line of roses that he can simply run over with his hedge trimmer like all his other shrubs.  Everyone has their own preferences, and the beauty of the rose is that there is a species out there that can accommodate everyone.

Though I have 126 different species of roses in this particular garden where I live now, this time at this house, I chose which ones to put in with more thought than in years past at different houses in different gardens.  Because I knew I wanted a wild array of color, I chose the placement of the color very strategically so that it somewhat flowed across the landscape.  After knowing what colors you want, the next thing to consider is size.  I chose Grandifloras for the back, hybrid teas mid way, and floribundas closer in.  I chose David Austins along an old split rail fence along the driveway, because of their “funky” growth habit and the aroma they greet our guests with.  Once you have a size layout, the next big priority and the MOST IMPORTANT one is the ranking of the rose with the American Rose Society.  Every rose is “ranked” after several years of trial for its disease resistance, bloomability, hardiness, and overall performance.  They are ranked on a 0-10 scale.  Their rankings are acquired from growers across the country as well as their own test gardens.  I choose no rose with a ranking below 7.0.  Have I ever???  Oh, yes—maybe I loved the color or the name and thought sure I could make it do better than others.  In three years it was pulled out and replaced with something else. 

There are also a lot of questions asked of me about what company to buy a rose from.  I tend to buy from the breeders who created the rose.  Remember that any company can “buy” a patent and call it their rose.  Look for the company who won the Rose of the Year award.  You’ll often be surprised.

I have often been asked by many guests to my garden, if you could only choose                ten roses what would you choose?  This past winter, I decided to attempt to put that list together.  It is as follows (iin no particular order):

Love & Peace, Tuscan Sun, Brigadoon, Touch of Class, Love, Starry Night, Artistry, Ronald Reagan, Olympiad, Ingrid Bergman, Crimson Bouquet, and Aperitift.

There may be a day when I can only have or care for ten.  BUT WAIT……a new catalog came last week with a new rose on the front called “Ketchup & Mustard”.  Only ten????

Next time I will offer specifics on pruning.  President’s Day is approaching.  I CAN’T WAIT!

Rose Care 101 with Judy Brownell

My name is Judy Brownell.  Over the next few weeks, I will be sharing everything I have learned about rose care.  I grew up on a farm in Nebraska.  Early on, I learned that I loved the dirt and growing things.  Because we raised everything we ate, Mom’s standby flowers were marigolds around the vegetable garden to keep insects away.  There were a few irises along the garage and a smattering of zinnias here and there.  By the back gate was a huge bramble climbing rose she had ordered from Gurneys catalog and planted when they bought the farm in 1946.  She never did anything to this rose, as far as I know.  It just stood there rather ugly most of the year.  But for a few weeks in early summer, it burst into color.  I lived for those weeks—the smell; the delicateness of the blossoms, and the richness of the color. 

When I got married and began my learning of gardening and flowers, I was thrilled that there were roses out there that would bloom more than once a year.  Today, they fill my garden with constant color from May until November.  Though I have many kinds of flowers, it is the rose that brings the longest lasting continual performance particularly here in the Northwest.

Today I have 126 different species of roses.  I have been to every rose seminar, pruning clinic, and rosarian learning consortium there is.  I will share what I know in a simple easy format, so that hopefully you can enjoy the benefits of this flower as much as I do.

This is my most anticipatory time-- Gearing up for February.  I  wander through the rose garden looking at canes, shape of bushes, and planning.  Have good hand pruners, a good pair of larger, long-handled pruners, a pruner sharpener (Coastal sells them all), and a bottle of Hydrogen Peroxide to dip your pruners in to prevent spreading disease. You also need a good pair of gloves.  My favorites are Kinco’s from Coastal.  They are cheap, fit close to the hand, and somehow are thorn resistant.  

In my next article, I will discuss pruning, which I begin around President’s Weekend (depending on the weather).  I look forward to sharing with you how to transform : This

 into this.