Avoiding a Hay Belly
We sometimes hear, "My horse has a hay belly. What should I do differently?" Or something like, "He's big in the belly but doesn’t have good muscles.” Apart from a broodmare belly, post-colic surgery effects, or a parasite situation, the answer usually derives from a nutritional imbalance. If you're facing a situation like this, the good news is that you can make adjustments in your program and avoid it in the future.
Understanding the Problem and Its Causes
Have you ever seen a young or growing horse with a big belly while the rest of their body looks small? Or a mature horse that has a midsection that hangs low, while ribs are visible and muscles along the back and hindquarter are hard to find? How about the ‘pregnant gelding’ situation?
All of these describe a hay belly. On a regular basis, you should conduct a body condition score on your horse to check for muscle mass as well as appropriate fat deposition in key areas. It’s important to check all areas indicated, since a rib or belly check alone doesn’t necessarily provide all the information.
When too many low-value calories are consumed without adequate protein (including essential amino acids), the body stores those excess calories as energy in cells. And because the needed protein isn’t available to maintain muscle mass, the muscles atrophy despite this increase in stored energy. Over time, a hay belly emerges as muscle mass over the top is lost and gut size expands.
Preventing Hay Belly
Prevention of hay belly begins with feeding the best-quality hay you can find--in the correct amount for your horse's body weight, age, and activity level. The biggest nutritional factor contributing to hay belly is over-feeding fiber high in neutral detergent fiber (NDF) while under-feeding adequate levels of quality protein.
NDF is a measurement of cell wall content in plants such as grasses. As the plant matures, it builds up stronger cell walls so that it can hold itself upright. The stronger these walls, the less digestible these cells are for a horse. So when fed very mature hay, your horse is less able to digest that hay, as compared to hay with a lower NDF value (less mature). In addition to being higher in NDF, the grasses also tend to be lower in the quality proteins--important nutrients for developing and maintaining muscles.
Hay that is smooth and ‘leafy’ tends to have levels of NDF that are better for the horse to digest. Hay that is pointy to the touch or which looks like a green version of straw should be avoided as it simply offers little nutritional value for the horse.
Getting Rid of Hay Belly
First, check the quality and quantity of hay your horse is eating. If the quality is adequate, then it’s time to re-evaluate the quantity fed. A horse should be fed 1.0 to 1.75 pounds of hay per 100 pounds of body weight daily. So for a horse weighing 1,000 pounds, that would be between 10-17.5 pounds of hay each day, ideally divided across two or three feedings. Check to be sure you’re not inadvertently overfeeding.
The last piece of the puzzle is feed. Make sure that the concentrate you provide is offering adequate quality protein. Total protein alone can’t support or develop ideal muscles. The right balance of amino acids is necessary to build and maintain muscle quantity and quality. Look for feeds that guarantee levels of lysine, methionine and threonine. These three key amino acids are the most important for your horse. And check to be sure you’re feeding the appropriate amount of concentrate.
Feeding a balanced diet and adding some exercise to help develop muscle mass and tighten up that tummy is a great way to reclaim that belly. Meanwhile, if you need advice on your horse's nutritional regime, be sure to give us a call or stop by one of our stores. We'll be happy to point you in the right direction!
NOTE: This post is adapted (with permission) from content proudly brought to you by our partners at Nutrena and Cargill Animal Nutrition. The original article appears here.