🌟 Tuesday topic - It IS ok for your horse to puff! 🌟
The benefits of exercise for the overweight horse have long been recognised and documented to increase Insulin sensitivity however, more research continues to emerge regarding intensity of exercise and this is something I talk about on visits a lot.
A recent paper showed that higher intensity exercise resulted in greater, whole body insulin sensitivity (Pratt-Phillips 2024). In 2007 the NRC updated guidelines to include heart rate within their categorisation of workload to help people accurately determine their horses true workload. Rather than being purely based on number of times a week they are exercised, it focuses more on heart rate elevation and % of time spent in walk/trot/canter and or jumping efforts/gallop etc.
If your horse is physically able to exercise and provided it is built up gradually; I always encourage hill work and lots of changes of pace and duration to increase the intensity of workload which, alongside a managed and balanced diet, is the best method to reduced excess body fat horse 🐴
Note: the puffing in this video is after trotting up a very steep Devon hill!
Home for the next few days
🌟 Tuesday Topic - What’s in your kitchen cupboard 🌟 So not strictly nutrition related but a fun one for this week as I know I can’t be the only one managing a grey hippo! I cleaned her tail using ONLY 2 kitchen cupboard essentials. It’s not perfect but it has definitely lifted some of the yellow out and I will repeat the process a few more times. Give me a 👋🏻 in the comments below if you want me to share which 2 products I used…..
🌟 Tuesday Topic - Feeding for workload 🌟
An important factor to discuss when doing a consultation is the current workload your horse is in. Having an accurate description and understanding of your horses regular activity helps me to calculate their energy requirements more effectively.
Terms often used are ‘light/moderate/heavy’ workload but would you be able to tell which category your horse falls into?
It is often thought to relate to how many times a week your horse is worked/ridden but the intensity at which your horse works is also a factor ie heart rate and oxygen consumption rate as a reflection of metabolic rate.
According to the National Research Council 2007 a ‘moderate’ workload is classified as;
Average heart rate 90 beats/min (where an average resting heart rate is 30-40bpm)
3-5 hours work per/week with 30% walk, 50% trot, 10% canter and 10% low level jumping or other skill work.
This video is my mare having a canter on the beach at the weekend; she is ridden 5 or 6 times a week but all of my work/schooling is done on hacks unless I box up to a school therefore majority of my time is spent in walk/trot with short canters thrown in where ground allows. So although she is moderate in terms of number of hours ridden per week, she is definitely in the light category in terms of intensity of work therefore I would base her feed plan on ‘light workload’. Being realistic about her workload ensures I am not providing excess calories.
If you have a horse that needs to lose weight and they are physically able to work then frequent exercise and the INTENSITY of exercise will be your best friend! If like me you school on hacks, I plan my routes around the best hills for long trots, steep hills for lots of transitions and always hopefully for a grassy verge to canter! 🐴
