THE CLARIFICATION PAGES

Also known as the “Lisa didn’t make a lot of sense pages”

STALL and STABLE

Note that the concepts of “clean air” and “ventilation” are connected. Properly designed
ventilation is the means of safely supplying clean air to the inside of the barn.
Remember (I didn’t make this real clear in the lecture)
Good ventilation relates to having a good supply of clean air
Well designed ventilation results in good flow of air without risk of draught.
It is possible to have a well ventilated but draughty barn (also referred to as “poorly
designed ventilation”). You could also have a poorly ventilated draughty barn (a double
whammy of bad). I can’t think of a question where you would answer a question exactly
like this  but for practicality sake you should know that the whole point is to provide
ventilation without draught.
Interesting Fact
Horses kept in a poorly ventilated barns will often look in better flesh with sleeker coats
than horses in a well ventilated barn. Unfortunately horses kept in poor ventilation tend
to be in overall worse health than those in well ventilated barns.
A note about temperature
When designing a barn do not sacrifice ventilation for a warmer interior. Well designed
ventilation helps remove moisture and prevent frost/ice build-up inside the building
without creating a draught. If necessary you can blanket a clipped horse in the stable.
Focus On The Purpose Statements  here are some tips for some of them
1. Remember: “Secure Water and Light Air make Drained Foundations” for 6 features
of good stable and yard design.
2. Remember: “Mucky Hay should be Clipped in Isolation” for yard component
considerations
3. Remember: “Safe for Horse and Easy for Handler” to think through stall fittings.
4. Think it through: Your mattress is the equivalent of your horse’s bedding.
5. For bedding types: Think of drying dishes  you either absorb it with a towel or let
it drain on a drain rack

FEEDING
Digestive Tract Names and Functions
• don’t let yourself get too worried out about all the details  there is plenty of time to
nail all that down
• focus on the order things go in something like this.

Small Large
Mouth Pharynx Esophagus Stomach
Intestine Intestine
in, chew, wet, flap over transport to juices, absorb break down, fibre, bacteria 
starch windpipe stomach protein, mineral absorb, protein, vitamins, make
CHO, fat, balls
minerals

Nutrients
• Know the six. Maybe remember W.C.P.F.V.M.
• Water: I said “vital to all cells”. I didn’t say the obvious which is that water is in
blood, sweat and saliva, and used to remove waste products from the body in the
urine. Obviously you have too little of any of those and you have a problem!
• Energy: when listening back I realized that I could have grouped these differently.
Both Fat and Carbohydrates are used to supply energy. They come from different
sources and have slightly different functions but are essentially both used for energy.

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 The difference is that sources of CHO’s (such as grass, hay and grains) also provide
fibre (cellulose). Hay and grass provide much more fibre than grains.
• Note about fibre: Roughage is usually used to describe the non-concentrate part of
the diet (meaning hay, grass etc). Fibre refers to the actual physical structure of the
material eaten. Fibre is high in lignin (kind of a stiff substance) that stops feed from
turning into a big bog of slimy mush in the gut. Stems of grass are more fibrous than
leaves. Just like in people, fibre is critical to preventing constipation and keeping the
actual lining of the digestive tract healthy. Some people/sources will use the term
“roughage” when referring to fibre. If it is already inside the horse, it is more
correctly referred to as fibre. Remember the roughage part of the diet provides both
fibre and carbohydrates. Poor quality hay tends to have less good leaf and more stem
making the feed unbalanced with very high fibre and very low CHO’s. This can
result in a large hay belly but skinny over the ribs (full if fibre but not getting enough
energy to sustain body mass).
• Fat: if you happened to write this down, please change “fats have 3x the energy per
gram than carbohydrates.” Other sources say 3x but I checked the concise science
dictionary and they say 2, so 2 it is. By the way this is a “not in required reading
material” note  but you are now unlikely forget how fat can be used in a ration.
• Minerals  I think I misspoke here (check your notes please). Minerals are triggers
in the body (for things like the sodium/potassium pump which keep nerves
functioning properly). Vitamins are important for vital body functions (like seeing
and hair growth) but do not act as triggers for other body systems. Just take a look
and see if I messed that one up  got thinking I might have been unclear after.
• Vitamins: some get made in the body, some get absorbed through skin and some are
within the feed. They are usually needed in only very small amounts.
• Fat soluble: I don’t think I mentioned that because fat soluble vitamins are stored in
fat the horse can get too much. This is called “toxicity”. Vitamin E and the mineral
Selenium are closely related and both can have toxic effects in the horse if present in
excess quantities  but they can also cause symptoms if there is not enough (called a
deficiency).
• Succulents are part of the ration but not a primary source of required dietary needs.
Ration and Feed Program
• Rations are mostly about taking the type and amount of everything the horse eats,
breaking that down into how much protein, carbohydrates, fat, vitamins, minerals etc
that feed provides. You then compare that to what the horse’s needs are (from some
great tables) and figure out how you should adjust the ration (amount or type) to meet
the needs. Pretty cool and something you will get to do in the next few years. Some
people say feeding is an art and science. Rations are the science part. The art part is
dealing with the individual horse’s likes, dislikes, timing the feeding and other details
so that horse is at optimal health. There are lots of ways of meeting the mathematical
needs of the horse. The art is finding the combination that works best for that horse.
• Feeding programs are very closely tied to rations but the term is usually used to refer
to the more general description of what, when and how much.
Rest Day Ration  I remember making some comment about how you can slash the horse’s
ration in half on rest day. Let me clarify again: you cut the concentrate portion of the
ration (fat and grains etc) in half and you make up for it by increasing the roughage. The
horse is getting close to the same % of body weight, but in more roughage and less
concentrate. This means overall energy intake is less because roughage component has
less energy per pound than concentrate. Make sense? The whole point of rations is that
you match as closely as possible the intake of the horse with his needs. On a rest day the
horse uses less energy so needs to consume less.

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Factors to consider
• “Type” refers to tall, lean rangy versus compact and chunky. When I say something
like “thoroughbred types require more feed than Shetland pony types” I don’t mean
by the pound (obviously a big thoroughbred needs more feed than a short little pony).
What I am referring to is “more” as a percentage of body weight. Where a Shetland
might need closer to 1.5% of body weight per day in feed a thoroughbred is more
likely to need close to the 3% of body weight amount (and you might have a hard
time keeping them on maintenance at that).
• Remember I changed these to a wacky order? Here’s a summary.
Never Change: Type, Temperament & Appetite and Feeding Behaviour
Change With Maturity: Age
Change Within Every Year: Seasonal Variations
Change Within a Season: Current Condition, Health, How the Horse is Kept
Change Daily: Daily Work Variation
• Try this. Here are some more things that need to be considered when designing a
ration/feed program. Which category would you put these in?
1. Breeding status (pregnant mare, lactating mare, breeding stallion)
2. Worms
3. Teeth
4. Stable Vices
Grasses and Legumes Section
• the actual purpose statement says to know the difference between grasses and
legumes. Here is how I would describe grasses and legumes: “Grasses have parallel
veins, seed heads and are relatively low in protein and calcium. Legumes have a
spreading network of veins, fix nitrogen from the soil and are relatively high in
protein, calcium and vitamins.”
• Nitrogen is important because it is central to the ability of the plant to be a good
source of protein. Carbohydrates contain C, H and O. Proteins contain C, H, O and
N (and usually S for sulphur).
• the clover table is not from a required or resource reading  but it is very important
for you to know. I can’t help but tell you important stuff, even if it isn’t in your
reading list. I’ll try to tell you when that happens.

That’s it for now. I’ll post another one of these after a few more lectures. Let me know if you
have questions.

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