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• The American Hunter-Jumper Foundation's Emergency Relief Fund receives a grant from EQUUS
  • The AHJF'S ERF program provides emergency financial support to those in need
• Hay for the laminitic horse
• ACVIM 2006: New nutrition software

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The American Hunter-Jumper Foundation's Emergency Relief Fund receives a grant from EQUUS 

The AHJF'S ERF program provides emergency financial support to those in need 

The American Hunter-Jumper Foundation's Equine Emergency Relief Fund was recently awarded a $5,225 grant from the EQUUS Foundation, Inc. AHJF was one of many benevolent organizations that were awarded $250,000 total in grants.

EQUUS, an all-volunteer foundation, awards grants to charitable organizations that have a beneficial impact on the community, with special emphasis on programs that promote the positive use of the horse for the benefit of the general public; improve the quality of life of horses; contribute to the welfare of the participants in the equestrian sport; and elevate the equestrian sport and profession as a whole. The group raises money from benefit luncheons with proceeds earmarked specifically for these worthy causes.

AHJF Executive Director Michele Perla was appreciative of the grant, which will be used to help people in need. “The AHJF is both honored and humbled by the generosity of the grant made to us by the EQUUS Foundation,” noted Perla. “It is gratifying to know that other equestrian non-profit organizations recognize the importance of the AHJF Emergency Relief Fund. This grant money will help us assist those in the hunter/jumper sport during their time of need.”

The AHJF Emergency Relief Fund was established in 1995 to provide emergency financial support to individuals and families involved in the hunter and jumper sport. The Board of the AHJF reviews emergency situations (medical emergency, accident, disability, or death in the family, drug or alcohol abuse, fire, or a disaster) and makes a determination in accordance with need. The monies come from the AHJF, private gifts, and other donations such as The Capital Challenge Horse Show and each WCHR horse show member event. All donations are tax deductible as charitable contributions.

The ERF Program is only part of what the AHJF offers. The organization was formed in 1992 to further the development of the equestrian sport of show hunter rider and show jumping competition by providing a national office to organize, coordinate, and support hunter rider and show jumping equestrian competition. Other programs of the AHJF include the World Championship Hunter Rider Awards, AHJF Educational Programs, and the AHJF BSA Inc. 401k and Profit Sharing Plan. The AHJF also hosts the Monarch International's Show Circuit Magazine Professional WCHR Finals (October 6, 2006 in Maryland), the AHJF Hunter Classic Spectacular in Florida (February 24, 2007), and the Legacy Cup (May 9–20, 2007 in Kentucky).

For more information, contact the AHJF, 335 Lancaster Street, West Boylston, MA 01583-0369; Phone: 508-835-8813, www.ahjf.org, ahjf@earthlink.net.

The deadline for the EQUUS 2007 Grant Program is October 1, 2006. The Grant Application can be downloaded from the website at www.equusfoundation.org. For additional information, contact The EQUUS Foundation, Inc., 168 Long Lots Road, Westport, CT 06880, or telephone (203) 259-1550, or email to equusfoundation@aol.com.

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Hay for the laminitic horse 

Is there a particular type of grass hay that is better than others as a long-term part of the maintenance diet for a horse prone to laminitis? Sue, via e-mail

If a horse has a history of chronic laminitis, my first concern would be addressing the metabolic issues contributing to the problem, usually obesity or pituitary dysfunction, both of which are treatable.

If the horse is truly insulin resistant/glucose intolerant, there is no one “type” of hay guaranteed not to trigger a bout of laminitis. It depends more on the harvest conditions, not the species of grass, as to whether a batch of hay contains sufficient non-structural carbohydrates (NSC: starches, water-soluble sugars, and fructans) to cause a problem. Most horses tolerate more than 20% NSC without adverse effects, and most grass hays, especially those from the Eastern states, contain only 7% to 18% NSC, with an average of 12%. Even legume hays, on average, contain less than 15% NSC. Oat hay, conversely, averages 22% NSC. (Values are based on 5 years of data from Equi-Analytical Laboratories' web site.)

Grasses accumulate NSC throughout the day, with the highest concentrations achieved late in the day if the sun is shining. If temperatures are above freezing and adequate water is present, NSC are converted to cellulose and other structural carbohydrates overnight, resulting in very low sugar concentrations by daybreak. If this process is disrupted by drought or freezing temperatures overnight, NSC concentrations can increase significantly.

The grasses continue to “respire” after cutting until the hay is baled and “cured.” The longer the hay is dried in the field, the lower the NSC will be. Sugars and fructans are water soluble, so if the hay is rained on (or soaked in water), the overall NSC will also be reduced. “Warm season” grasses, such as coastal Bermuda and crabgrass, tend to accumulate lesser amounts of sugars than the “cool season” grasses such as fescue, orchard grass, and timothy under adverse conditions. Some accumulation will still occur if the conditions are right. Be aware that most horses are not adversely affected by this variability in pasture grasses or in hays!

If a horse really is sensitive to NSC content, the “safest” hays would be coastal Bermuda or timothy cut early in the day, after a warm night and recent rainfall. Hay dried in the field for at least a day or two—even rained on a bit—is considered safer (ie, first or second cutting, depending on the year, from the Eastern states). Western hay producers tend to cut their hay later in the day to prevent excessive drying, and they bale more quickly than is possible in the humid East, all of which tends to preserve the NSC content.

Reprinted with permission of The Horse; visit www.TheHorse.com for more horse health news.

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ACVIM 2006: New nutrition software 

Researchers have completed the new National Research Council (NRC) report that describes nutritional requirements of the horse. The report is expected to be released this fall to update the previous publication, which was distributed in 1989. This new information will be used to predict the daily nutrient requirements of horses in various physiologic states, such as pregnancy, exercise, or growth.

“The committee has reviewed the available literature and addressed a number of current issues in documenting nutrient recommendations and feeding management of the horse,” said Robert J. Van Saun, DVM, MS, PhD, Dipl. ACT, Dipl. ACVN, of University Park, Pennsylvania, in his presentation at the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine Forum on June 2 in Louisville, Kentucky.

Van Saun further described the guidelines to The Horse on September 13, as the NRC report has been approved since the Forum.

The cattle industry is years ahead of the horse world in its understanding of nutritional requirements, and better mechanistic models have been developed for cattle. Equine researchers are working hard to catch up. Until this report, mineral and vitamin requirements for the horse were defined on a dietary nutrient basis (percent of dry matter or parts per million). In the new report, the authors have moved to describing equine nutrient requirements on a body weight (BW) basis (mg or g/kg BW) as well as dietary concentration.

“In the previous NRC, dietary energy and protein were defined as a proportion of total diet (Mcal/lb or %),” explained Van Saun. “In the new NRC, dietary requirements will only be defined as total amounts required and there will be flexibility by the user to choose a level of dry matter intake. This means that diets with differing percents of protein might be equally sufficient due to different expected intake levels.”

The authors also made adjustments to how maintenance energy is calculated. “The new NRC, which has now been accepted for publication, will allow the user to choose one of three levels of maintenance energy for their horse to account for ‘average,’ ‘easy,’ and ‘hard’ keepers,” said Van Saun. “Additionally, users can select one of four categories of activity to match what their horse exercise regimen mimics.”

Van Saun and his collaborators promise the NRC recommendations have been “greatly expanded” since the previous report that was released 17 years ago, and new topics have been added. “It will be interesting to see how these models work in the real world and how we tweak them,” said Van Saun.

The software also will be used to facilitate teaching of equine nutrition and will assist in developing research models that will help scientists better understand nutrition requirements of the horse.

“We envision these as the culmination, but really it's a starting point,” said Van Saun. “These software models set the stage for continued development. More research is required to move to the next level of understanding.”

Reprinted with permission of The Horse; visit www.TheHorse.com for more horse health news.