Ask the Nutritionist: Dr. Getty's Forum for Equine Nutrition
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Here you will find more than 6 years of questions and my answers. It is searchable and offers a great deal of information.
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Take a look at my Nutrition Library and Tips of the Month for a variety of answers on selected topics. Be sure to sign up for my monthly e-newsletter, Forage for Thought.
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All the best,
Dr. Getty
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Hello Betsy,
I'm delighted that you are enjoying my book -- Thank you for wonderful feedback. I've answered your questions below in yellow.
Betsy Dabbert
Hello everyone. I am also new to this forum and am very grateful that they exist. All three of my babies are my family and a big part of my heart. There is so much conflicting information out there that confusion has become part of our lives. Dr. Getty I just purchased your book and am thrilled with your information and feel that finally I will get the answers I need to provide my horses with what they need to the best of my ability.
1. Eli: 5 year old male donkey. Rescued from an auction. Has a cresty neck and fat deposits on hind end. I was told to give him 1 leaf of grass hay 2x per day. "He is a donkey, they are hardy animals that do not eat much, he is not a horse" I was told. I am having a difficult time getting weight off of him. What is the proper diet for donkey's.
Answer: Free-choice hay is the way to reduce the hormonal response that comes with the stress of an empty stomach, and is keeping your donkey fat. But it has to be a low calorie, low sugar/low starch hay. So, it must be tested. For a donkey, I would look for a hay that has no more than .85 Mcals/gram (calories, shown as digestible energy), and has a %NSC of less than 10%. Allow him to self-regulate by never letting him run out. If you run out, even for 10 minutes, he will not get the message that he has all that he wants and he will overeat.
It's true that donkey's have evolved to do well on low protein, low fat diets. But their stomachs are the same as a horse's -- it secretes acid all the time and donkeys therefore need to be able to graze and chew, to produce saliva, a natural antacid.
2. Satin: 13 year old Arab mare. She is the horse that just looks at the carrot and gains 5lbs. My vet told me to reduce her hay intake. She is currently getting about 2% of grass hay per her body weight of about 950lbs but I only give her 2 leaves of hay at night. I also give her 1 cup of alfalfa pellets with 1/2 cup Horse Guard vitamin/mineral, free choice Cal/Mag salt by Dr. Dan and 1/3 cup Weight Check oil also by Dr. Dan.
Answer: No -- do not restrict hay. Check the ingredients of everything you are feeding and make sure that it does not contain any cereal grains (oats, corn, barley, etc), molasses, rice bran, or iron. No carrots, no apples. Alfalfa pellets are fine as a carrier for supplements. If you restrict hay, you will keep her fat. If you restrict it enough, she will lose weight, but her metabolic rate will slow down so dramatically that she will always suffer from being an "easy keeper" to being and "even easier keeper."
3. Tricia Ann: 19 year old Quarter Horse mare. Was worked very hard as reining horse when young. She came into my life at age 5. Developed mild DJD in hocks at the age of 7. She developed heaves at 17 but with the help of Chinese Herb formula, and the help of two holistic vets she is now completely free of symptoms. She is stiff in the morning hours and developed a golf ball sized lump on her knee which vet examined and took x-rays stating that it is a "hygroma". Due to heaves she had lost weight so with the help of alfalfa pellets, rice bran, and 50% alfalfa hay and grass hay she has put on weight. She currently has 2 cups of alfalfa pellets in am with Next Level joint supplement, BL-Solution, Hyalone (Dr. DePaolo's hyaloronic acid, Horse Guard multi-vitamin and Weight Check Oil by Dr. Dan. She also has access to free choice Cal/Mag salt. Am I over-supplementing her? Are there products that you can recommend that can consolidate what I am giving?
I don't know exactly what is in the supplements you are using, so it's difficult to tell you if there are overlaps. If you are feeding soybean or corn oils, for example, these are high in omega 6s, which increase inflammation, and hence pain and further inflammation in her lungs. The best way I can help you with her, as well as your other animals, is to schedule a phone visit. That way I can go over everything you're feeding as well as their history, medical treatments, environment, etc. to give you a customized plan.
Our horses are out on pasture from 5:30am to 5pm. This has been their schedule since they were young so they wait at gate to come in for evening. They are stalled from 5pm to 5:30am the next morning. Tricia Ann eats as much hay as she wants all night and self regulates nicely. Satin and Eli are my issues: Should I give Eli and Satin more then the 1-2 leaves of hay at night and double it? Can this be done immediately or do I increase it a leaf at a time? Are donkey's different types of feeders?
Tricia Ann could not be ridden so I walk her as much as I can. Satin doesn't get ridden because there is no one around when I ride her to keep me safe and well Eli the donkey he normally takes me for a ride when he decides to go left when I want to go right.
In other words they are living a very comfortable, stress free life on 4 acres and I have no problem with them just being horses.
Thank you for your time in reading all of this. I await your reply and again thank you for your site and the wonderful people who have subscribed.
1. Eli: 5 year old male donkey. Rescued from an auction. Has a cresty neck and fat deposits on hind end. I was told to give him 1 leaf of grass hay 2x per day. "He is a donkey, they are hardy animals that do not eat much, he is not a horse" I was told. I am having a difficult time getting weight off of him. What is the proper diet for donkey's.
Answer: Free-choice hay is the way to reduce the hormonal response that comes with the stress of an empty stomach, and is keeping your donkey fat. But it has to be a low calorie, low sugar/low starch hay. So, it must be tested. For a donkey, I would look for a hay that has no more than .85 Mcals/gram (calories, shown as digestible energy), and has a %NSC of less than 10%. Allow him to self-regulate by never letting him run out. If you run out, even for 10 minutes, he will not get the message that he has all that he wants and he will overeat.
It's true that donkey's have evolved to do well on low protein, low fat diets. But their stomachs are the same as a horse's -- it secretes acid all the time and donkeys therefore need to be able to graze and chew, to produce saliva, a natural antacid.
2. Satin: 13 year old Arab mare. She is the horse that just looks at the carrot and gains 5lbs. My vet told me to reduce her hay intake. She is currently getting about 2% of grass hay per her body weight of about 950lbs but I only give her 2 leaves of hay at night. I also give her 1 cup of alfalfa pellets with 1/2 cup Horse Guard vitamin/mineral, free choice Cal/Mag salt by Dr. Dan and 1/3 cup Weight Check oil also by Dr. Dan.
Answer: No -- do not restrict hay. Check the ingredients of everything you are feeding and make sure that it does not contain any cereal grains (oats, corn, barley, etc), molasses, rice bran, or iron. No carrots, no apples. Alfalfa pellets are fine as a carrier for supplements. If you restrict hay, you will keep her fat. If you restrict it enough, she will lose weight, but her metabolic rate will slow down so dramatically that she will always suffer from being an "easy keeper" to being and "even easier keeper."
3. Tricia Ann: 19 year old Quarter Horse mare. Was worked very hard as reining horse when young. She came into my life at age 5. Developed mild DJD in hocks at the age of 7. She developed heaves at 17 but with the help of Chinese Herb formula, and the help of two holistic vets she is now completely free of symptoms. She is stiff in the morning hours and developed a golf ball sized lump on her knee which vet examined and took x-rays stating that it is a "hygroma". Due to heaves she had lost weight so with the help of alfalfa pellets, rice bran, and 50% alfalfa hay and grass hay she has put on weight. She currently has 2 cups of alfalfa pellets in am with Next Level joint supplement, BL-Solution, Hyalone (Dr. DePaolo's hyaloronic acid, Horse Guard multi-vitamin and Weight Check Oil by Dr. Dan. She also has access to free choice Cal/Mag salt. Am I over-supplementing her? Are there products that you can recommend that can consolidate what I am giving?
I don't know exactly what is in the supplements you are using, so it's difficult to tell you if there are overlaps. If you are feeding soybean or corn oils, for example, these are high in omega 6s, which increase inflammation, and hence pain and further inflammation in her lungs. The best way I can help you with her, as well as your other animals, is to schedule a phone visit. That way I can go over everything you're feeding as well as their history, medical treatments, environment, etc. to give you a customized plan.
Our horses are out on pasture from 5:30am to 5pm. This has been their schedule since they were young so they wait at gate to come in for evening. They are stalled from 5pm to 5:30am the next morning. Tricia Ann eats as much hay as she wants all night and self regulates nicely. Satin and Eli are my issues: Should I give Eli and Satin more then the 1-2 leaves of hay at night and double it? Can this be done immediately or do I increase it a leaf at a time? Are donkey's different types of feeders?
Tricia Ann could not be ridden so I walk her as much as I can. Satin doesn't get ridden because there is no one around when I ride her to keep me safe and well Eli the donkey he normally takes me for a ride when he decides to go left when I want to go right.
In other words they are living a very comfortable, stress free life on 4 acres and I have no problem with them just being horses.
Thank you for your time in reading all of this. I await your reply and again thank you for your site and the wonderful people who have subscribed.
Betsy, I would like to help you but your questions go beyond the scope of what I can write about in this forum. I hope some of my suggestions have been helpful and I encourage you to make an appointment so I can give you and your horses the time you deserve.
All the best,
Dr. Juliet Getty
Author of Feed Your Horse Like A Horse
Where are you from? Bayfield, CO
Nov 22nd, 2011 - 1:01 PM