A horse’s diet consists mainly of hay or pasture with a vitamin mineral supplement and a type of feed if the horse requires more to meet its requirements for maintenance, exercise or breeding.
Ideally, the components of a horse’s diet should be free of any contaminants that can cause illness to the horse.
With a wonderfully warm growing season, hay crops have been in abundance, however, farmers have had difficulty cutting and baling without rain.
Moisture will cause an increase in the presence of molds that produce products called mycotoxins. These toxins cause respiratory problems, abortions, nervous disorders and other illnesses in horses.
This risk is higher this year for grains as well, as they are harvested off the fields. When grains are sold in the marketplace, loads are categorized based upon quality, which includes levels of molds/mycotoxins. Grains with higher levels of contaminants tend to be lower in price. This is how some feed companies are able to provide a product at a lower price – by using contaminated grains.
Mycotoxin binders will bind the mycotoxins and remove them from the horses’ digestive system and dispose of them, thereby not allowing the contaminant to enter and cause havoc.
What other contaminants can be found in horse feeds? If a feed company does not have a dedicated line solely for drug-free products, the possibility for drugs fed to other animals entering the horse feed is higher.
For drugs such as ractopamine, a growth hormone used in swine, or rumensin, a drug used for cattle, horses have a lethal dose of 1/100th that of ruminants commonly used in cattle and pig feeds.
Rumensin has been well documented in horses as accidental poisoning can occur very easily given horses’ low tolerance. Arsanilic acid, penicillin, chlorotetracyline and other antibiotics are other drugs which are commonly used and potentially can contaminate the horse feed if a dedicated line is not used.
Horse owners can protect their horses from contamination by asking the following questions of feed suppliers:
– is testing done for moulds and/or mycotoxins?
– what quality control program is in place for identifying and removing these contaminants?
– if mycotoxin binders are added to the feeds, at what levels?
– is the feed from a dedicated line to prevent drug contamination?
Hay contamination is more difficult to deal with, but can be done using mycotoxin binders, which will remove any potential toxins. Feed suppliers can help find a source suitable for horses on a daily basis.
Debra Ottier is an equine feed expert at Sharpe Farm Supplies.
