Substituting _________ in a horse's diet to replace a portion of more expensive concentrates is a safe and effective way to increase the energy in the diet.
Answer: D) fat
Another tip to maintain weight on a horse is to substitute fat for more expensive concentrate. A shift has taken place within feeding practices based on current equine nutrition research. Rather than feeding additional concentrate, leading nutritionists are recommending to incorporate fat. The fat can be in the form of oil, i.e. vegetable oil, soy oil, flaxseed oil. This can be an excellent way to safely add body condition to horses, up to 1.0% BW per day in fat can be fed. An important reminder is, change a horses diet slowly over a 2-3 week period. When changing a diet, whether it is changing type of hay, or feeding a new concentrate, the first week feed 75% old diet 25% new diet, week two 50% old diet 50% new diet, and third week 25% old diet and 75% new diet. Additionally, horses should be fed at minimum 2x per day.
For more information on cost saving tips, read the May 2009 e-Tips article Cost Saving Tips for Equine Operations and view the archived webcast Feeding Management in a Time of Rising Feed Costs by Dr. Mark Russel.