Need a Ration Balancer?

Does my Horse Need a Ration Balancer?

By Nettie Liburt, PhD, PAS, Senior Equine Nutrition Manager, Mars Horsecare US/BUCKEYE® Nutrition

We all know and love them – the chunky pony, the air fern, the easy keeper. I have had occasion to tell a horse owner to stop feeding concentrates to some of these horses. I get gasps (from the humans), who respond, “I have to feed him grain or he’ll tear the barn down!” or, “He’ll starve!”

No, he won’t starve if you are feeding good quality hay and a ration balancer. And, a ration balancer will make that door-kicking horse feel like he’s getting some grain, even though he’s not. Read on to find out why!

Nutrients, Not Calories

First of all, what is a ration balancer? It looks like a grain concentrate, typically in pellet form, but it is really a concentrated vitamin, mineral and protein supplement that is low in calories and sugar. It is designed to balance a forage-based or low-grain diet. Think of a ration balancer as the equine equivalent of a multivitamin a human would take. The feeding rate on a good quality ration balancer is low, and depends on the horse’s (or pony’s) ideal body weight and how the manufacturer formulated the product. It’s an excellent option for ensuring a horse’s nutrient needs are being met, without adding excessive calories and even helping to manage weight.

But that’s not all. Some horses get some grain, but the amount of grain they get may be below the manufacturer’s recommendations. When a feed company designs and manufactures a given product, that product is fortified with vitamins and minerals. The product is designed to be fed to a horse at a certain rate. For example, typical feeding directions might say to provide ½ a pound of the product for every 100 pounds the horse or pony weighs. For a 1,000 pound horse, in this example, this equates to 5 pounds of feed. In this way, a horse’s minimum daily vitamin and mineral needs are being met while providing extra energy (calories) and protein. What if that horse only gets 2 pounds of that feed but is maintaining weight just fine? The horse isn’t getting the full value of the vitamin and mineral package in the feed product and may be missing some nutrients. A ration balancer can be added to fill in the gaps without adding excess energy the horse doesn’t need. But what about the hay?

Forage First

Taking a step back, remember that horses evolved eating small, forage-only meals all day long. Doesn’t hay and pasture provide everything a horse needs? In some cases, where pasture is plentiful and well- managed, it probably does. However, I know plenty of horse owners that don’t have such a luxury. Maybe some pasture is available, but in winter, these lucky folks need to supplement with hay. Even the best quality hay will start to lose vitamins once it is harvested from the field. If one is buying hay to last all winter, by the time one reaches the end of that supply, there isn’t much in the way of vitamins left. For these and other reasons, a ration balancer is still a wise recommendation for horses on forageonly diets. Ration balancers will ensure that your horse’s vitamin, mineral, and amino acid needs are being met, regardless of what may be missing nutrient-wise in the hay or pasture.

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Protein and Amino Acids

I mentioned amino acids, so let’s delve into that a bit. Amino acids are the “letters” of the alphabet that make up the “words” that are proteins. There are many different combinations of letters that make up many different proteins. In fact, protein is the second most abundant part of the body, the first being water. The protein content of hay can vary depending on the species of grass, stage of maturity at harvest, soil nutrient content, time of year, time of harvest, etc. A laboratory hay analysis can give you a true picture of what is in a particular batch of hay, but is not always a practical thing to do. Recently, I had a hay sample analyzed for a customer who was concerned about the quality of the hay being fed to her horse. While the hay was providing plenty of protein, or so it seemed, it was not providing enough of the essential amino acid, lysine. Without lysine, optimal production of other proteins can’t be made in the body. When I added BUCKEYE® Nutrition’s ration balancer, GRO ‘N WIN™ to the horse’s diet, we were able to restore the lysine requirements, improve the vitamin and mineral profile, and balance out the diet.

Too much protein?

Keeping with the discussion of protein, ration balancers, such as GRO ‘N WIN™, are often high in protein (GRO ‘N WIN™ contains 32% crude protein). I am often asked if that is simply too much protein, and the answer is a definitive, “No!” Remember to consider the horse’s entire diet. GRO ‘N WIN™ is fed at a much lower rate than a grain concentrate, but is a more robust source of nutrients.

Here’s an example:

*An 1,100 pound horse at maintenance requires 630 grams of crude protein per day. It is recommended that a horse in this class consumes 1.5-2 pounds of GRO ‘N WIN™ per day, along with approximately 2% body weight of good quality hay (about 22 pounds hay). *1 pound GRO ‘N WIN™ = 454 grams GRO ‘N WIN™ *454 grams GRO ‘N WIN™ x 32% crude protein = 145 grams crude protein in 1 pound GRO ‘N WIN™ *145 grams crude protein x 2 pounds GRO ‘N WIN™ = 290 grams crude protein *Two pounds of GRO ‘N WIN™ supplies 290 grams of crude protein, just under half of the horse’s daily needs. The remainder of crude protein needed should be supplied by forage in this case.

Special Considerations

Ration balancers can also be quite suitable for horses who suffer from polysaccharide storage myopathy (PSSM) or other forms of tying up, insulin-resistant horses and horses with pituitary pars intermedia dysfunction (PPID, or Equine Cushing’s Syndrome). These horses need proper nutritional support, but their diets need to be carefully controlled with special attention paid to limiting starches and sugars. Similarly, horses with hyperkalemic periodic paralysis, or HYPP, also need special diets with limited potassium. A ration balancer may be part of a balanced diet for these horses as well.

Summary

Ration balancers can help to ensure horses in a wide variety of nutrition situations are properly nourished. The horse that doesn’t need grain can still feel like he’s getting something in his feed bucket, and the overweight horse on a restricted diet will still receive sufficient nutrients without extra calories as part of a healthy weight loss program. A qualified equine nutritionist can help you determine if a ration balancer should be part of your horse’s diet, and help ensure all nutrient needs are being met. Happy riding!