The ABC's of Vitamin Nutrition
by Judith A. Reynolds, Ph.D.,P.A.S.,Dipl. A.C.A.N Reprinted with permission from The Horse: Your Guide To Equine Health Care, February 2002....Although horses only need relatively small quantities of vitamins, the lack of those tiny amounts can be devastating to your horse's health. ......

Are you Feeding a Low-Starch Horse Feed? -
by Judith A. Reynolds, Ph.D.,P.A.S.,Dipl. A.C.A.N....Many FORAGE FIRST rations contain minimal starch, so they are less likely to cause metabolic disorders like colic, founder, tying-up, developmental orthopedic disorders, ulcers and increased blood glucose and hyperactivity following meals. 

Balanced Diet - Creating A Healthy Hoof The Importance of a Balanced Diet, Shoeing, and Exercise
by David Hayes, D.V.M., Equine Hospital and Lameness Center, Meridian, Idaho....Individuals who own and enjoy horses are well aware of the importance of horses' feet. No matter what the blood lines, no matter how well the dam or sire did in the show ring, no matter how much the professional training cost, if a horse's feet are not healthy, the horse becomes a hungry pasture ornament which produces manure! .......

Forage First Programs for Broodmares
by Judith A. Reynolds, Ph.D., P.A.S.
Divisional Equine Technical Specialist ADM Alliance Nutrition, Inc.
 

Understanding the Equine Digestive System
Digestion is the process by which feedstuffs are broken down to their simplest forms. The resulting nutrients can then be absorbed into the bloodstream and provide fats, carbohydrates, amino acids, vitamins, and minerals for maintenance and/or growth, or they can be stored for future needs.

Nutrition and Developmental Orthopedic Disease in Horses
bby Judith A. Reynolds, Ph.D.,P.A.S.,Dipl. A.C.A.N

Creep Feeding Foals
by Edgar A. Ott, Ph.D., Animal Science Department, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida.....The newborn foal is a growing machine. A foal is born with a voracious appetite and converts nutrients to body tissues with an efficiency that will not be matched any other time in its life. The foal?s growth is highest during the first month of life and gradually decreases as it matures....

Forage - The One Percent Rule
Many horse owners have the misunderstanding that horses should have 1% of body weight of forage daily, then another 1% or more of other "stuff" from bags. This belief comes from one of the most common quotes in horse nutrition, ?Horses need at least 1% of body weight of forage daily.? Unfortunately for horses, people forget about the "at least" part of the quote and assume they should feed exactly 1% of forage. This misunderstanding is further perpetuated because.......
 

Frequently Asked Questions about FORAGE FIRST
FORAGE FIRST is a horse feeding program in which good-quality forage, GROSTRONG vitamin-mineral products, HEALTHY GLO stabilized rice bran products and Fortified Feeds are combined to produce balanced total rations. With this combination of feeds, horses can perform at their best when fed less grain than they would receive from typical horse rations.......

Are You Feeding Your Horse Like a Horse?
by Judith A. Reynolds, Ph.D.,P.A.S.,Dipl. A.C.A.N
In the past, before added-fat horse rations became universally accepted, horse-feed concentrates were selected for low fiber content in order to provide the highest possible amount of digestible energy (DE) in the total ration....

Applying Horse Sense to Horse Nutrition
By nature, a horse is a grazer. Its digestive system is geared for utilizing forages?pasture and hay. Attempts to turn horses into grain guzzlers usually backfire. ........

Stored Forages for Horses...The availability of good quality forage is very important to keeping horses healthy. Poor quality hay or pasture can cause distended digestive tracts (hay bellies) and increased reliance upon supplemental grains........

Award winning Series from Equi-Search:

• Equine Nutrition in the 21st Century, Part One....by Judy Reynolds, PhD., P.A.S.
  Equine Digestion - As we learn more about how horses digest and utilize nutrients from feeds, and as more feeds become available, our feed choices broaden and change. We have recently learned that digestibility of a feed is almost as important as its nutrient content.......  
  
  Equine Nutrition in the 21st Century, Part Two .....by Judy Reynolds, PhD., P.A.S.
  All Horse Feeds are not Created Equal - You love that smell and look of fresh, plump oats, bright yellow corn and sweet smelling molasses in your feed, and so does your horse. But, what is in your feed? How will your horse react to what you feed him every day? What?s best to feed your horse-oats, pellets, sweet feed? ..........
  
  Equine Nutrition in the 21st Century, Part Three......by Judy Reynolds, PhD., P.A.S.
  Providing Energy in Horse Rations - Traditional horse feeding programs are based on some misconceptions about horse feeds. For instance, horses need a certain amount of energy-producing nutrients from their rations, but hays and pasture can and should provide most of that energy......
   

• Equine Nutrition in the 21st Century, Part Four ......by Judy Reynolds, PhD., P.A.S.
  A New Look at Fiber in Horse Feeds; The Fiber-To-Energy Relationship - In the past, horse-feed concentrates were selected for high digestible energy (DE) and low fiber content, because grains were the only feeds available which provided more energy per pound than hays. And, grains with the least fiber provided the most energy..........
  
  Equine Nutrition in the 21st Century, Part Five .....by Judy Reynolds, PhD., P.A.S.
  Forages for Horses - Like all animals, horses need the basic nutrients; proteins, energy-producing compounds (carbohydrates and fats), vitamins, minerals and water. Because of their unique digestive systems, horses also need fiber, or bulk in their rations. Fiber consists of indigestible components in the ration, which keep the digesta flowing properly, and components digested in the hindgut, which provide about 70% of the horse?s energy requirement when horses are fed high-forage rations......

"Traditional" Horse Feeding Practices Are Being Challenged
by Judith A. Reynolds, Ph.D.,P.A.S.,Dipl. A.C.A.N  

Equine Grain-Associated Disorders by Judith A. Reynolds, Ph.D., P.A.S.
Humans and horses have different digestive tracts and eat different foods (feeds), but there are similar food-related medical problems in both species. In humans, similar clusters of metabolic symptoms called Syndrome X, The Metabolic Syndrome, The Dyslipidemic Syndrome and The Insulin-Resistance Syndrome are being studied........
 

What is Rice Bran? by Rukmini Cheruvanky, Ph.D., FACN - Rice bran is a rich source of hypoallergenic protein, oil, dietary fiber, and nutrients essential to life. Rice bran is unique in the plant kingdom. It is the only major cereal that contains all of the essential amino acids, the necessary building blocks of all protein in the body.......

Stabilized Rice Bran as a Horse Feed Stabilized rice bran is made with a proprietary "non-chemical" extrusion technology that selectively inactivates the lipase enzyme while preserving all of the nutrients.

The Senior or "Old Horse" Dilemma
by Judith A. Reynolds, Ph.D.,P.A.S.,Dipl. A.C.A.N .... In Webster's dictionary, dilemma is defined as "a predicament that apparently defies a satisfactory solution." Many owners of older horses can relate to this definition. Keeping an older horse feeling healthy and looking good seems to be the impossible mission for many people........
 

Are you Feeding a Low-Starch Horse Feed? -
by Judith A. Reynolds, Ph.D.,P.A.S.,Dipl. A.C.A.N....Many FORAGE FIRST rations contain minimal starch, so they are less likely to cause metabolic disorders like colic, founder, tying-up, developmental orthopedic disorders, ulcers and increased blood glucose and hyperactivity following meals. 

Nutrition for the Long haul  By Jim McCall, Ph.D., and Lynda McCall Equine Specialists, Mount Holly, Arkansas ...
Loading horses into boxes on wheels and towing them with motorized power inherently creates more problems than herding them along eating grass as they move. Proper gut movement and blood flow depend to some extent on the horse's mobility or muscle-powered movement. Standing four square in a box severely limits a horse's ability to move. The relationship between movement and normal digestive function is the primary reason for the concern of horses "on the road."

Supplementing Horse Diets with Yeast Increases Fiber Digestion and Improves Feed Efficiency
by Ed Piwonka, Ph.D., Nutritionist, ADM Alliance Nutrition, Inc.
Many research studies have been conducted to determine the efficacy and mechanism of action of yeast. A common finding in these research studies is an improvement in fiber digestion, which indicates that feeding yeast results in a change in rumen microbial activity (ruminants) or gastrointestinal tract.

Beat the Heat By Judith A. Reynolds, Ph.D., P.A.S., Dipl. A.C.A.N.'Equine Nutritionist, Equine Product and Technical Manager ADM Alliance Nutrition, Inc....Hot weather is one of the greatest stressors on horses because they have large bodies and a large muscle mass to cool. Sweat produced by a horse functions as a cooling system. As the water content of sweat evaporates (turns to water vapor, heat is expelled, cooling the horse. It is important to horses' health and performance to make them as comfortable as possible during hot weather. Following are suggestions for keeping horses cool during hot weather.

BLISTER BEETLES, Alfalfa Hay, and Horses
by David W. Freeman, Ph.D., PAS, Dipl. ACAN, and Charles MacAllister, DVM, Dipl. ACVIM Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, Oklahoma.....Most horse owners have heard of blister beetle poisoning in horses. Blister beetle poisoning results from ingestion of cantharidin, a toxic chemical carried by numerous species of blister beetles. Over 200 species of blister beetles occur throughout the U.S. ...........

Body Condition Scoring Body Condition Scoring (BCS) is a classification system used to determine relative fatness or body condition of horses. The BCS system was developed at Texas A & M University (Henneke and co-workers, 1983) to visually quantify the amount of body fat on a horse. Body condition only refers to stored fat, not to protein, vitamin, or mineral status of the horse.
 

Cold Weather Feeding By Judith A. Reynolds, Ph.D., P.A.S., Dipl. A.C.A.N., Equine Nutritionist, Equine Product and Technical Manager, ADM Alliance Nutrition, Inc.....Even if you live in a warm weather climate, the change from summer to winter can have an effect on your horse. As the mercury plunges, horses need to generate 10 to 20 percent more energy to maintain the same body temperature and to maintain body weight. Because a long winter coat can mask obvious signs of a deficiency in body fat reserves, your horse could effectively be malnourished without you knowing it.....

Colic - Equine Colic Causes, Treatment, and Prevention
by Leslie M. East, D.V.M., and Charles E. Dickinson, D.V.M., M.S. College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Colorado State University, Ft. Collins, Colorado.....Colic is a general term used to describe any painful condition involving the horse's abdomen. Colic can result from problems affecting the gastrointestinal tract and abdominal organs (i.e. the liver, spleen, or kidneys). .....
 

Colic - Preventing Equine Colic
by Judith A. Reynolds, Ph.D.,P.A.S.,Dipl. A.C.A.N

Colic - Help Prevent A Winter Hazard - Dehydration Colic

by Judith A. Reynolds, Ph.D.,P.A.S.,Dipl. A.C.A.N

Dehydration.. The Importance of Water to Body Processes
by John H. Thomas, D.V.M. Martinsville Veterinary Hospital Martinsville, Indiana.....Water, the most important nutrient, is a part of all biochemical processes within a horse's body........

DOD - Congenital and Acquired Orthopedic Disorders in Foals
by Alan J. Ruggles, D.V.M., Equine Veterinary Surgeon Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital, Lexington, Kentucky

DOD - Nutrition and Developmental Orthopedic Disease in Horses

by Judith A. Reynolds, Ph.D.,P.A.S.,Dipl. A.C.A.N

Electrolytes for horses......In most situations, the necessary electrolytes are provided to horses as part of balanced feeding programs. However, more electrolytes usually need to be supplemented in horses that sweat a lot due to extreme heat or exercise.  

EPM ............ Equine Protozoal Myeloencephalitis
by W.J.A. Saville, D.V.M., Diplomate ACVIM, Ph.D., Department of Veterinary Preventive Medicine, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio...Equine protozoal myeloencephalitis (EPM), primarily caused by infection with Sarcocystis neurona, is a progressive disease of the central nervous system (CNS). Another protozoan parasite (Neospora caninum/N. hughesi) has also been implicated as a cause of EPM in six cases. ...........

Foals - Creep Feeding Foals
by Edgar A. Ott, Ph.D., Animal Science Department, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida.....The newborn foal is a growing machine. A foal is born with a voracious appetite and converts nutrients to body tissues with an efficiency that will not be matched any other time in its life. The foal?s growth is highest during the first month of life and gradually decreases as it matures....

Forage - Are You Feeding Your Horse Like a Horse?
by Judith A. Reynolds, Ph.D.,P.A.S.,Dipl. A.C.A.N
In the past, before added-fat horse rations became universally accepted, horse-feed concentrates were selected for low fiber content in order to provide the highest possible amount of digestible energy (DE) in the total ration....
 

Genetic - Inheritance of Genetic Disorders in Horses 
by Judith A. Reynolds, Ph.D.,P.A.S.,Dipl. A.C.A.N
Recent announcements of the newly discovered genetic disorders Hereditary Equine Regional Dermal Asthenia (HERDA) [formerly referred to with the less accurate term Hyperelastosis Cutis (HC)] and Glycogen Branching Enzyme Deficiency (GBED) draw attention to the importance of breeding management in horses...... 

Halter - Feeding and Fitting Halter and Sale Horses
By Stephen G. Jackson, Ph.D. Bluegrass Equine Nutrition, Inc. Versailles, Kentucky....Halter and sale horses are the two main groups of horses which are assessed and valued, to a large extent, based on their conformation and condition. In the past, many halter and sale horses were over fed, because - fat is the prettiest color.? .....
 

Hooves - Creating A Health Hoof The Importance of a Balanced Diet, Shoeing, and Exercise
by David Hayes, D.V.M., Equine Hospital and Lameness Center, Meridian, Idaho....Individuals who own and enjoy horses are well aware of the importance of horses' feet. No matter what the blood lines, no matter how well the dam or sire did in the show ring, no matter how much the professional training cost, if a horse's feet are not healthy, the horse becomes a hungry pasture ornament which produces manure! .......

HYPP - Equine Hyperkalemic Periodic Paralysis (HYPP) Equine Hyperkalemic Periodic Paralysis (HYPP) is a co-dominantly inherited disorder of descendants of the Quarter Horse stallion, "Impressive," that affects muscle function. by Judy Reynolds, PhD., P.A.S.

Laminitis and Founder in Horses Preventing the Devastation Laminitis ranks second only to colic in surveys of horse owner's greatest fears. When severe enough to result in founder, or deformity of the foot, it is the most devastating of horse diseases and has the worst prognosis. Laminitis can strike all horses regardless of breed or use, but is rarely found in horses less than one year of age.............

Parasite Control Consequences of Parasitism and Benefits of Control
by Craig R. Reinemeyer, D.V.M., Ph.D., Veterinary Parasitologist East Tennessee Clinical Research, Knoxville, Tennessee

Senior - Geriatric Horses ...A common sense approach to care, exercise and feeding of older equine athletes.
by Gary D. Kaufman, D.V.M. ...The term, "geriatric," by definition relates to the aged, or the process of aging, whether it pertains to humans or horses. In sports today, whether an athlete is "old" or not depends as much on the sport as it does on the actual age of the competitor........

Senior - The Senior or "Old Horse" Dilemma
by Judith A. Reynolds, Ph.D.,P.A.S.,Dipl. A.C.A.N .... In Webster's dictionary, dilemma is defined as "a predicament that apparently defies a satisfactory solution." Many owners of older horses can relate to this definition. Keeping an older horse feeling healthy and looking good seems to be the impossible mission for many people........

Tying-Up in Horses......Research Leads to Dietary and Exercise Management Strategies
by Stephanie J. Valberg, D.V.M., Ph.D., College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, Minnesota  Tying-up, at the turn of the 20th century, was a fairly common occurrence in work horses, especially draft horses. After resting on Sunday, horses began their work routines Monday morning. .........

Vaccination - New Recommendations for Vaccinating Mares and Foals
by Judith A. Reynolds, Ph.D.,P.A.S.,Dipl. A.C.A.N
The American Association of Equine Practitioners introduced new, updated recommendations for vaccination of broodmares, foals, and weanlings in October of 2005.  Years ago, most veterinarians recommended that foals be vaccinated for sleeping sickness (encephalomyelitis) and tetanus with two injections given three-to-six weeks apart starting at three-to-four months of age.  All horses then got yearly boosters of each kind of vaccine, usually given in the spring.  Recent information leads to more complicated recommendations for foals based on the recent vaccination history of their dams.......