SUGAR: THE SWEET TRUTH
When considering the sugar content of your horses’ diet is important to look at the wider picture and consider everything your horse eats daily including grass and long stem forage such as hay and haylage.
What are Sugars?
Sugars are the ‘building blocks’ for plant growth and are produced through photosynthesis and are then turned into fibre for the plant cells walls. The amount of sugar found in grass changes daily and weather can reduce or increase the sugar production.
Sugar is a non-structural carbohydrate (NSC) and most NSC’s in the diet are broken down in the small intestine to become glucose (a simple sugar). Glucose provides energy which can be used instantly or can be stored in the liver and muscles as glycogen. Glucose enables the horse to function correctly and is the only ‘fuel’ that can be used by the brain and the only substance that makes glycogen.
How Much Sugar?
Some horses require a low sugar diet to aid in the management of metabolic, digestive, or behavioural issues, however, it is important to remember that percentages of sugar in feeds are not the only way your horse consumes sugar. Horses are herbivores and were designed to graze for long periods of time. When taking your horse’s sugar consumption into consideration, it is almost more important to assess the sugar that is provided through their forage rather than finding the lowest sugar feed they could possibly have.
Here are some examples of a typical daily sugar intake for a 500kg horse provided through a range of feeds and forage: