b'Arizona Ask the VetREAL COUNTRY AVOIDING HAY BELLYthe magazine THE TERM HAY BELLY REFERS TO Mike Barna A DISTENDED Publisher ABDOMEN ON A HORSE AND IT MAY OR MAY NOT BE TRUE ArizonaRealCountryMagazine@gmail.com OBESITY. Many horses, especially the very young and old, may exhibit hay Erika Smith Royal bellies without an associated build-up of body fat. Hay bellies are a distension of Editor the abdominal area due to the volume of erika963realcountry@gmail.com grass or hay the animal consumes. The belly expands to handle the load. Apart from a broodmare belly, post-colic surgery Misty Voitovski effects, or a parasite situation, the answer Creative Director sounds like a nutritional imbalance.The good news is, once you know what a nutritional imbalanced hay belly is and what causes it, youCoarse, low-quality hay is notorious for giving Contributing Writers can make adjustments and avoid it in the future. horses hay bellies because of the amount of indigestible fiber that ends up filling the intestinal Lee AndersonSam BuchertWhat It Looks Like tract. The biggest factor is overfeeding fiber Billy White Bird HaughtHave you seen a young or growing horse with a bighigh in Neutral Detergent Fiber (NDF) while Justin LeglerMaricopa County Staff belly while the rest of their body looks small? Orunderfeeding adequate levels of quality protein. maybe a mature horse that has a midsection thatNDF is a measurement of cell wall content in plants Betsy NunnJim & Bobbi Jeen Olsonhangs low, with ribs that are visible and muscles onsuch as grasses.As the plant matures, it builds up Robert PiekowBill Roberts the back and hindquarters that are hard to find?stronger cell walls so that it may hold itself upright. Both of these describe a hay belly.You shouldThe stronger these walls, the less digestible these Alan RockmanBob Roloff conduct a body condition score on your horse tocells are for a horse.So when fed very mature John SamsillHank Sheffer check for muscle mass as well as appropriate fathay, your horse is less able to digest that hay, as Michele Wilson deposition in key areas regularly.Its importantcompared to hay with a lower NDF value (less to check all areas since a rib or belly check alonemature).In addition to being higher in NDF, the doesnt provide all the information. grasses also tend to be lower in the quality proteins 801 W. Wickenburg Way and important nutrients for developing and Horses with hay bellies may exhibit no signs atmaintaining muscles. Wickenburg, AZ 85390 all. Others may have low-grade recurrent colic, restlessness, sweating, or excessive stretching. AA horse can eat large amounts of hay or grass and (602) 254-6644 horse may also develop a poor coat and appear instill look trim because hay belly is not caused by ArizonaRealCountry.com poor condition. This can occur in horses of any age.hay per se. It is caused by poor fermentation in If you notice a change in attitude or appearance,the colon so that the distention is from excessive this could be a sign offluid and gas. This is often something else. A distendeddue to poor quality hay abdomen can also be duethat contains excessive to parasitic infestation,cellulose and lignin. The which causes bloatingstems are thick and woody and inflammation, equineand/or a large amount Follow Arizona RealCushings disease, hepaticof stem compared to failure, ascites from heartleaf. Hay should be soft Country for news, events,and pliable, with a high failure, cribbing, and gastric giveaways and more! ulceration. Broodmaresratio of leaf to stem. This often have a larger abdomenleads to the disruption of due to stretched backmicroorganisms of the large Arizona Real Country is owned andmuscles that are supposed tointestine because there is not published by Barna Broadcastingsupport the abdomen. enough fermentable material LLC. No person, organization or partyto support good populations can copy or reproduce the contentWhat Causes It? of organisms.on our website and/or magazine orWhen too many low-value any part of this publication withoutcalories are consumed without adequate proteinHow To Prevent A Hay Bellya written consent from the editorsincluding essential amino acids, the body stores theFirst, feed the best quality hay that you can find in panel and the author of the content, ascalories as energy in cells yet the needed proteinthe correct amount for your horses body weight, applicable. The publisher, authors andisnt available to maintain muscle mass. In theage, and activity level. The hay that is smooth and contributors reserve their rights withabsence of adequate protein, muscles atrophy whileleafy tends to have levels of NDF that are better for stored energy increases. Over time, a hay bellythe horse to digest. Hay that is pointy to the touch regards to copyright of their work. emerges as muscle mass over the top is lost and gutor looks like its a green version of straw should be size may expand. avoided as it simply offers little nutritional value.continued on page 7ArizonaRealCountry.com June 2021 5'