10/15/2023
Easy keeper horses...where does it come from?
(There is nothing easy about it)
Many Morgans, donkeys, Quarter Horses, Mustangs and others can be found with this label.
If we harken back to those and other breeds' ancestry, we find that they were genetically adapted to survive in harsher situations or in high work by having an exceptionally thrifty metabolism and traveling a lot.
This is why you can take a mustang off the range in Nevada and have it come to Virginia and become an air fluff with hoof issues. Horses who grew up in starvation situations can also flip over to fluff status later in life. Horses who in their early years were fed an exceptionally high starch/sugar diet can also be predisposed to falling into this category.
They most often have cresty necks and fat deposits on their bodies (especially near the tail head and over the eyes). These are the horses who drive their owners crazy trying to keep them slim enough because dry lots and 2 flakes of hay per day only seem to make them bigger and angrier.
For these horses it is especially important that they have a diet that is balancing adequate mineral needs with low carbohydrates and limited fat intake. This is Hard
Commercial feeds that are supposedly low NSC and marketed for Easy Keepers/EMS horses are often really not, either. The goal for these horses is to have an NSC value at 10% or less. Many of the feeds that are targeting these horse owners are actually 16% or above, which isn't ideal at all.
Add this frustration to soaking hay for 30+ minutes and keeping your horse off of grass much of the time while still getting exercise in, and it is enough to make a horse owner take up kick boxing just to have some way to let off steam.
We can empathize having gone through this struggle ourselves. People want to have an easy path to follow, and in these cases, there is not always a one size fits all, step by step approach.
The journey to health for your horse begins in the education of yourself and understanding what resources that you have available in your own area.
Some information that you can start with...
1. Carbohydrates are not these horses friend. That means a lot of the time grass is going to be off the table for your pal and you need to know what is in your hay. High protein should also be off the table. Watch your ration balancers because some of them can be very problematic also.
2. We cannot stress enough exercise, exercise, exercise. Your horse has got to move. Ride your horse, make a track system, get him a donkey that chases him in circles all day but doesn't beat him up (maybe that is a joke, maybe not)
3. You cannot make these horses think they are starving. Somehow you have to figure out how to feed them in an all day trickle. If you are soaking your hay make sure your horse does not get the soaking water. It contains all you just tried to remove from your horse's diet.
4. Copper, Zinc, Selenium, Vitamin E, plain salt and Magnesium are super important for these horses. You are probably going to need someone very knowledgeable to help you analyze where your horse is and what your horse needs.
5. In most cases bags of grain, no matter what is on the label, do not serve these horses well. You are probably going to have to go to more simple ingredient feeding. Some ration balancers can be a great help.
6. Have your hay and ground analyzed to see what you are dealing with. High iron sources can interfere with copper and zinc absorption which is very unhelpful. Clover is high iron and so are some weeds. Timothy Hay is more NSC than orchard grass. Hay grown in high iron soil is also high iron.
Here are some resources for you to start with.
https://www.ecirhorse.org/treatment-
https://www.facebook.com/124619504251477/posts/2330795680300504/
https://www.ecirhorse.org/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=ddte_campaign
https://ceh.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/health-topics/equine-metabolic-syndrome
