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> Could you please give Ridecampers any updates on whether the high fat
> feeding is still what most people are using for endurance horses, or if
> there are any problems with the high fat diet that have come up in the
> past few years. Also what luck have people had w/carbo loading and/or
> supplementation during the ride?
This was the subject of my talk in Chattanooga, and it took me 90 minutes of
fast talking to say everything I wanted to there, so this post will hardly
cover much more than the tip of the iceberg.

Yes, there continues to be a lot of research and a lot of different opinions
regarding feeding fats versus carbos.  My opinion is that it doesn't have to
be a black and white issue of Either-Or and that both can be used to
advantage.

In short, *my* opinion is that fats are primarily very useful as a
concentrated source of calories to maintain good body condition without the
risks that a lot of grain carries.  There are some metabolic benefits you
can get if you feed a lot of fat for a long time, and that's fine for some
horses, especially those that are insulin-resistant or otherwise intolerant
of soluble carbohydrates.  In reality, I don't think it's particularly
feasible to pump tons and tons of oil down a horse's throat on a daily
basis, nor do I think the metabolic benefits are so overwhelming to make it
something to get really excited about.

So, I do think adding fat to the diet is a good way to get some concentrated
calories in during conditioning or a hard ride season.  You can get those
fat calories from a lot of different sources without a whole lot of
differences between them---fat pak, liquid vegetable oil, rice bran,
whatever, other than palatability, convenience, price, etc.

If you also want some of the nutraceutical-type properties of fats, then you
have to go to a different source, ie cold-pressed oil sources, rice bran to
some extent, or flax seed.  Depending on the source, then you can get
omega-3 and omega-9 fatty acids, which have different metabolic effects in
the body.  If you're feeding a heat-processed, grocery store oil source
(with the exception of virgin olive oil), or an animal-derived fat source,
then you *don't* have functional essential omega-3 or 9 fatty acids going
for you.

At Chattanooga, I also talked about why I don't recommend feeding fats
immediately before or during a ride.  Mostly because fats slow gastric
emptying, depress appetite for other (more important) things like forage,
and have an indirect adverse effect on water consumption.

So, we do know that added dietary fats aren't required or even advantageous
during a ride.  A lot of horses get through just fine with just hay, water
and maybe some salt, but carbs are good, too.  The deal with carbs of any
sort is understanding how the energy curves work, what an insulin rebound is
and why one big dose of carbs of any sort isn't going to get you through the
day.  If you're going to supplement with carbs (whether it be grain or
something from a syringe), then you better understand all that, plus be
prepared to be consistent throughout the day with lots of small, frequent
doses, or you're just going to shoot yourself in the foot right off the bat.
Plus, not every horse responds the same way, because of differences in
insulin-resistance and metabolism (a subject that's just starting to be
really well explored in clinical, peer-reviewed trials).

One more question - does the high fiber
> in beet pulp cause a problem for horses w/ulcers?
>                                                           Shelly

The fiber itself certainly shouldn't be an issue in the least.  What *might*
be an issue to consider is whether soaked, sloppy beet pulp initiates enough
chewing (and thus saliva production) to help buffer stomach acids.  It's a
valid point, and at least one of the reasons why I usually recommend that
beet pulp not provide more than 50% of the forage ration, the other half
being long-stem hay that requires lots of chew time.

On the flip side, a pound of beet pulp also provides the same amount of
calcium carbonate found in six Tums tablets, which itself is a reasonable
amount of buffering.  How well the two compare, I dunno.  I'm still not
convinced about the prevalence of significant ulcers in endurance
horses---I'm waiting to hear the results from the ulcer clinics ongoing now.

I know that doesn't start to cover everything worth discussing, but I'm more
than happy to continue to participate in some ongoing dialogue on the
matter.  :-)

Susan G



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