horses

• semi-feral horses spend most (60%) of their time eating and 10% of their time moving. By comparison individually housed horses spend very little time eating (15%) and half as much time moving, spending 65% of their time standing
• reinforcement is making a behaviour more likely. Punishment is making a behaviour less likely
• bodyweight weigh tape calculation is: (heart girth (cm)^2 x length)/11877
• feeding horses high levels of cereal grains containing large amounts of starch causes gastric ulceration, hindgut acidosis, laminitis and colic
• Feed intake for maintenance is 2% of the horse's bodyweight per day
• the gestation period for mares is 11 months. In the first 4 months of pregnancy maintenance level feeding is sufficient with good mineral and vitamin supplementation. Beyond 5 months gestation capacity for bulk feeds declines but nutrient requirement increases- 1.5% bw feeding with concentrate addition is recommended
• energy requirement in the lactating mare is double maintenance, reducing from 3 months pp to about 1.75x maintenance
• Depending on the number of mares being covered, a stallion may be fed up to 2.5% bw during breeding season
• Foals are naturally weaned at 12 months old but commercial foals are often weaned at 4-6 months old. If grass is plentiful then forage should be sufficient (alongside a good vit+min supplement). A good quality protein feed low in starch is ideal if concentrate feed is needed for growth
• Light work= hacking and leisure riding

  Moderate work= novice or intermediate eventing, grade A showjumping, medium level dressage

  Heavy work= high level dressage, 3-day eventing, 70+ mile endurance

  Very heavy work= racing
• The minimum forage requirement is 1kg dry matter per 100kg bodyweight per day
• Forage to concentrate ratios:

  Light work: 100:0 to 80:20

  Moderate work: 70:30 to 60:40

  Heavy work: 50:50

  Very heavy work: 50:50
• Overweight donkeys should never be starved due to risk of hyperlipaemia
• when trying to reduce a donkey's weight, ad lib straw should be fed with a vit+min supplement and grass should be limited
• underweight donkeys should be fed up with oil, soya meal or alfalfa based products but NEVER grain or other nonstructural carbohydrates (sugar and starch)
• Donkeys have evolved to survive on poor grassland so need access to wooded material such as tree bark
• principle forage for most horses is grass. some legumes such as clover and lucerne which are found in glassland are higher in protein than grasses
• soaking hay removes the nutrients
• conservation of forages preserves digestible nutrients either by drying to prevent microbial breakdown or by acidicfication anaerobically to inhibit plant enzyme activity
• grass hay usually has a DE of 4-8MJ/kg (low). Quality varies based on conditions when conserved
• Hay should not be fed to horses with recurrent airway obstruction (RAO) as it can be dusty. Spraying with water or soaking for 30 mins can reduce dust without reducing nutritional quality
• Lucerne (alfalfa) hay is common in north America. It is also fed to performance horses or horses needing to gain weight in the UK.
• Artificial high temperature conservation maintins more nutritional quality than other methods
• haylage has a higher dry matter content than silage. Silage is considered a high risk feed in horses due to the risk of botulism
• haylage is a low dust feed and is more palatable than hay. It also has a higher energy value (DE 9-10MJ/kg) which decreases reliance on cereal grains
• 40-80% of the dry matter of grain is starch
• It is illegal for an owner to:

  • export
  • use a horse for competition
  • move a horse to the premises of a new keeper
  • present for slaughter for human consumption
  • sell a horse
  • use a horse for breeding

  Without a valid passport
• Passports contain:

  • Ownership information
  • ID sketch
  • microchip number
  • Breeding information
  • Vaccination record
  • Medication record (to prevent certain medications entering the food chain)
• A single hand high is 10.2 cm (4 inches)
• A horse above 14.2 hh is a horse. Any shorter is a pony
• A black horse is entirely black, including mane, tail, body and legs
• A bay horse has a black main and tail and a tan/ brown body. The lower legs will be black
• A brown horse has a wholly dark coat colour with no defined colour line between body colour and leg colour
• A chestnut horse will have a reddish brown coat colour, chestnut mane and tail
• A grey horse is a mosaic of white and black hairs with black skin.
• A palomino horse had a golden coat with a white or flaxen mane and tail.
• A dun horse has black skin and may be blue (grey to stone coloured) or yellow (yellowed hair). The mane and tail are black
• A roan horse has a basic body colour with white hair interspersed. A blue roan has a black base coat. A bay roan has a bay base coat. A red roan has a chestnut base coat
• Whorls are a change in the direction of hair flow, indicated by a small x. may be simple, tufted, linear, crested, feathered or sinuous and should be specified in the narrative
• A simple whorl has a focal point from which hairs diverge