Grain-Free Diets: What and How Much?

[enjoytheride]

@vxf111

It would probably be easier to just do the allergy testing and eliminate the actual allergens. I did that. Otherwise this is a little bit of a stab in the dark plan. IF the horse has allergies it may be to something she is increasing in his diet.

The testing cost me about $100 a couple years ago. My horse tested allergic to corn, soy, oats, alfalfa and timothy. So going “grain free” would not have helped, I’d have likely still given him allergens.

He now eats grass hay, rice bran, flax seed, beet pulp, orchard grass pellets, and barley. Plus a vitamin/mineral supplement and a chelated palm oil supplement.

I know a mare who is allergic to grass. That’s fun.

[enjoytheride]

@MyKindaFlower

Thank you for the article Enjoytheride. Something that struck me while I read it was that the author did not appear to take the following into consideration: Over the last 40(ish) years, the average life span of our horses has increased, the amount of land for grazing has decreased in many areas, and even the type of pasture/hay available to our horses has changed, often times leading to NSC levels that would not be healthy for horses with metabolic issues.

Speaking of metabolic issues, I wonder if the author took breeding into consideration. Whether we like it or not, some of the metabolic challenges that we deal with today is the result of genetics, which predispose certain breeds or lines to issues like IR, polysaccharide storage myopathy, and founder. My draft cross does not have EPSM because he was fed hard feed while he was still growing. He has EPSM (type 1) because of his genetic makeup. His vet believes that his IR is also genetic.

I was actually irritated by the author assuming that owners are proud to be managing health issues such as Cushings (now often instead referred to as PPID). I’m not proud of the fact that I have an IR horse and another with PPID. What I am proud of is the ability to keep my senior horses healthy and comfortable for as long as possible.

I’m not disagreeing with the author as far as forage goes. It is the foundation of what I feed my animals. This time of year, my tiny herd of 3 each get between 28-32 pounds of grass hay per day (steamed and/or soaked for the big fella) in slow feed nets. But two of them get enough hard feed to maintain their weight and my draft-x gets 3 cups of oil and forage cubes. Everyone is supplemented for vitamin E, selenium (deficient in our area), and a multi-vitamin/mineral designed to meet the needs of horses on a mainly forage diet. I’m no expert in nutrition by any means but I do my best and consult with my vet before making changes.

He does address testing your grass/hay and supplementing if the hay/pellets/soybean meal aren’t cutting it or if your horse has metabolic issues.

[MyKindaFlower]

@enjoytheride

He does address testing your grass/hay and supplementing if the hay/pellets/soybean meal aren’t cutting it or if your horse has metabolic issues.

For some horses, I agree that it may be enough. But I objected to the overall tone of the article, especially the part about laughing at owners who are ‘proud’ of horses with Cushings and vets being happy to go along with that mentality to make more money. PPID is pretty common but I disagree that the cause is diet, in most cases. I think, at least in part, that the fact that our horses live longer lives on average has played a big role in an increasing number of animals being treated for PPID. That and better testing and more information about early symptoms. Once upon a time, if a horse didn’t have a wooly coat and troubled feet, they weren’t suspected of having Cushings/PPID. Now we know better and can test and start treatment, often before the more serious symptoms such as laminitis set in.

I lost a horse with Cushings about 12 years ago. He wasn’t diagnosed until his symptoms were obvious and he foundered while we were still adjusting his compounded Pergolide dosage. He only lived another couple of years after diagnosis and ended up dying of sudden kidney failure. The vet and I both believed his late diagnosis played a role in that.

It irks me to read an article where someone makes light of something like PPID, as if most owners just want to over-medicate and willy nilly add whatever supplement or feed that’s popular while vets rub their hands and rake in the money. Makes the vets sound unethical and the owners sound stupid. The reality is that most people are doing the best that they can. Most vets don’t make lots of money and genuinely care about the animals they treat. That the author suggested otherwise really raised my hackles.