Did you know? There's always something new to learn about performance animals.   On a dry food diet a resting horse requires about 3 times the weight in litres of water each day relative to its feed intake to meet its digestive and bodily needs. A horse consuming 10kg of feed and hay daily in light work under cool conditions requires at least 30 litres of water each day. In hot weather a working horse will consume up to 6 times the dry weight of feed provided in equivalent litres of water.   A nervy or highly-strung horse can expend up to twice as much energy during exercise than its calm counterparts. A lone horse in a pasture will walk and expend more energy when grazing as it seeks companionship. A nervy and hyperactive horse may fret during confinement to a stable and require more energy than when it is grazing at pasture.   A horse’s diet should contain a minimum 0.5% of linoleic acid to maintain coat and skin condition. Highest sources of linoleic acid are safflower oil (73%), sunflower oil (60%), corn oil (55%) and canola oil (16%).   Feeding fat as an energy substitute for carbohydrate from grain has a two-way “cooling” benefit – less “fizz” and lowered “heat waste” during digestion.   A study suggested that racetime in thoroughbred racehorses running over 1600 metres was improved by 2.5 seconds (2.1%) after consuming a diet containing 12% of its energy contributed by corn oil, compared to a grain diet with 2% energy from fat.   A selenium deficiency in the diet can lead to muscle weakness and degeneration (with white muscle disease in severe cases in foals and growing horses), a risk of tying-up and reduced performance in exercising horses, and less than optimum fertility in brood mares.   The amount of energy from volatile fatty acids during fermentation is lower in horses than ruminants because horses are less efficient in digesting fibre in their hindgut.   Supplements of natural fat soluble Vitamin E (d-alpha tocopherol) extracted from plant sources are accumulated and retained in the blood, muscles and liver for longer periods than water soluble synthetic forms (dl-alpha tocopherol) of Vitamin E.   Water makes up 65-75% of adult body weight and 75-80% of a foal’s body weight. A 500kg horse contains about 300 litres of water, with about 200 litres inside the body cells, and 100 litres as extracellular fluid, including around 55 litres of blood.   On a high fibre diet containing grass and hay, up to 70% of the energy supply is provided by metabolism of volatile fatty acids (VFAs) in a resting horse. When a working horse is fed on a high grain carbohydrate and fat diet, only 20-30% of the total energy is provided by the metabolism of VFAs.   At the peak of lactation from 2-3 months after foaling, a mare can produce volumes of milk equal to 3-4% of her body weight, or 15-20 litres each day for a 500kg mare.   Protein digestibility varies depending on the quality and source of the protein. Only 43% of the protein is digested from low protein (8%) grass hay and cereal chaff, but up to 70-75% from legume sources, such as good quality lucerne hay and even higher from oil seed meals such as soyabean, canola and linseed meals.   An increase in muscle glycogen content by up to almost 16% can occur after feeding 12% energy intake in the diet as fat over an extended time of 2-3 months in a hard working horse. However, muscle glycogen stores have been reported to decrease when greater than 15% fat was added to the total diet.   During hot weather horses drink about every 2 hours, but during cool weather, frequency reduces to every 4-5 hours depending on the amount of dry food in the diet.   Bacteria in run off from grazing land or sewerage seepage or outflow can contaminate water. Surface water pumped from dams with floating suction valves may contain more bacteria than water drawn from the depths of the dam or lake. Bacterial levels are highest in flowing surface water, such as rivers and streams.   During oxidative metabolism of proteins into energy, 41g of water per 100g is formed, 60g per 100g of carbohydrate and 107g per 100g of fat which contributes additional water to the body cells.   Horses grazing pasture complete up to 60,000 jaw sweeps each day. About 1000 jaw sweeps are required to chew one kilogram of grain and up to 3000-3500 for each kilogram of hay prior to swallowing. Ponies chew even more thoroughly than horses, chewing up to 8000 times for each kilogram of hard feed.   Both saliva (and gastric juice) are secreted with the actual presence of food in the mouth or stomach, rather than by anticipation of the sight or smell of food (as in some other animals). Horses do not "drool" or dribble saliva in anticipation of receiving food at feed time.   Excess intakes of phosphorus (as phosphates), or calcium-binding compounds (eg. phytates in pure wheat bran or high oxalates in tropical grass) can significantly bind up and reduce the availability and uptake of essential calcium in the relatively restricted length of the small intestine.   Up to 16% of racing horses on high grain diets (more than 5kg of grain daily) have a faecal pH level below 6.4pH units and symptoms of low grade or subclinical laminitis, with foot soreness, reduced stride and less than optimum performance.   The large intestine expands in capacity and activity from foal to yearling age to accommodate the fermentation and digestion of more fibrous food. There are no digestive enzymes secreted into the large bowel to digest food, although mucus is produced by the lining cells to lubricate the passage of the food mass.

Press on the sides of the face along the teeth edges above the corner of the mouth – if sharp edged teeth are present the horse will show discomfort and pull away