A common problem facing horses leaving the racetrack is the "hard keeper" trap; once they've lost weight, it's hard to add it back on.
When transitioning the diet consider the amount of calories and type of calories a horse is accustomed to and how that affects their metabolism.
Racehorses consume an average of 35,000cal/day, while the average pleasure horse consumes 20,000cal/day.
If transitioned too quickly to a lower calorie diet, an OTTB can drop weight rapidly. Stretching the transition to small adjustments over a long period of time will help you manage their dietary transition.
As a general starter diet for a recently retired racehorse, here is what I recommend:
24/7 access to high quality hay (preferably not in a haynet or slow feeder)
10-20lbs supplement alfalfa, as accessible
A complete senior feed fed at recommend ratio (ie Triple Crown Senior), look for something under 20% USC, and high fat/fiber.
TC Senior is 1,546kcal/lb, which is 15,460kcal in 10 lbs, that's half their required calories
Amplify 1+ lb, this is pure fat and can be increased or decreased without affecting the balance of the horse's nutrition intake.
This is the back bone for the diet, the senior feed fed at the recommend proportion will provide the vitamins and minerals the horse needs. From there, there are a couple supplements I will consider depending on the individual horse's needs, some of my favorites are:
beet pulp: beet pulp is a wonderful filler that can be soaked and added to a diet to increase caloric intake without making a horse "hot".
Vitamin E: important or nervous system synthesis and regeneration as well as immune system booster during times of stress
Magnesium: Sometimes can have a calming affect as it helps with nerve function and muscle recovery.
MSM: increases circulation to tissues and reduces inflammation.
As I said this is a starter diet, working with an equine nutritionist and/or veterinarian can help you dial in your diet to your specific horse's needs and deficiencies. Another factor to consider and address is ulcers but I'll talk on that more in another post.
Any changes to the diet should occur incrementally over 2 week period. Your goal is to dial the diet down to an appropriate "pleasure horse" diet, but decreasing the calorie intake to quickly will result in weight loss and undo stress for the horse.
To decrease the caloric intake overtime, decrease the amplify/beet pulp first, then start decreasing the amount of senior grain. If you drop below the recommend amount of senior feed, start supplementing in a ration balancer to fill in any nutritional gaps in the horse's diet.
Once your horse is in a balanced diet and maintaining an appropriate weight, where you want to take the diet is up to you. The foundation should always be 24/7 access to hay/forage though.
The hard keeper trap is hard to recover from. While the transition off the track will still be stressful for your horse, providing enough calories and fats will help support your horse through the transition without deteriorating their body composition.
For more transition tips, the BRINGING HOME OTTB course equips you with ALL the tools you need to help you transition your OTTB to a new lifestyle and career.
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