After a very wet winter the longer days and warmer weather is going to be very welcome to all horse owners. However, as we move into spring, this also means a period of significant change for your horse. The longer days stimulates winter coat shedding – as well as horsehair getting everywhere, moulting can make your horse itchy and uncomfortable. This can take its toll on both coat and skin health until their new summer coat comes through.

The good news is that the right nutrition and care can support coat shedding to help make the process as comfortable as possible and promote a healthy, new summer coat. In our latest Blog, Lisa Elliott, MSc Equine Nutrition Solutions provide some insights into how the right nutrition can help your horse shed his winter coat. Also, what key nutrients are needed to support optimal shedding and maximise skin and coat health.

What is Moulting?

Your horse’s coat growth is influenced by the seasons, with a longer thicker coat in autumn and winter, and a thinner, shorter coat in the spring and summer, which coincides with the loss of the winter coat or ‘moulting’.  Many owners assume moulting is linked to warmer temperatures, but it’s influenced by the changing length of daylight as the seasons change. The horse’s eyes begin to sense the longer light of the days which triggers the pineal gland to send hormones that trigger the pituitary gland. The pituitary gland produces hormones which then trigger the thyroid which is responsible for hair growth and loss. As the days become longer, growth and consequently shedding increases.

Growing a new summer coat and shedding the winter one is a strenuous feat for the metabolism, so providing optimal nutritional support is essential.

Boosting Energy

As a significant metabolic process, moulting requires energy to support both the shedding of the winter coat and growth of the summer coat. However, since this occurs in the spring which coincides with the emergence of nutritious spring grass, if your horse is out 24/7, they should be receiving enough energy to support the moulting process.  If your horse is stabled during the winter or turned out during the daytime, then ensuring they have a good supply of good quality forage should provide the energy needed to optimise coat growth and moulting.

Horses that are underweight or poor doers might need additional energy from high fibre feeds like Coligone Fibre cubes, which will also provide a range of beneficial vitamins and minerals to support coat and skin health.

Provide Quality Protein

Your horse’s coat is 95% protein, the hair shaft being made up mostly of the protein keratin. To make keratin your horse needs a good supply of key amino acids, the building blocks of protein.  Certain amino acids, however, always need to be present to build protein or synthesis is limited and these are known as ‘limiting’ amino acids, namely, Lysine, Threonine and Methionine. Inadequate protein or a lack of essential amino acids could result in reduced hair growth, which in turn, could slow down moulting.

Again, if your horse is not out on good grazing 24/7, they could be lacking in quality protein and Lysine in particular, so it is important to ensure you are always proving good quality forage, and the better the quality the higher its nutritional value and protein quality will be.

Adding in a high specification balancer like Coligone Balancer or supplement like MultiVit Pro to provide an optimum blend of vitamins, bioplex minerals and micronutrients, including essential amino acids, will also help maximise coat growth and integrity.

Improve Coat Quality

Fat and in particular the omega 3 and 6 Fatty acids have significant links to coat and skin health, so adding more fat to the diet might help improve the new coat’s quality. A typical hair shaft is coated in cuticle cells that contain a substantial amount of fat that helps retain moisture. These cells should lay flat, and when they’re flat they reflect light beautifully. However, if damaged, moisture is lost from the hair shaft, and the hair becomes dry and no longer reflects light with the same brilliance. Additionally, pores in the skin release sebum, which is an oily substance that coats the hair shaft and helps maintain shine. Omega 3 and 6 fatty acids are important to help enhance skin and coat suppleness and condition.  They both have roles in skin and coat structure and integrity and help to resist infections and allergic reactions which could compromise overall coat health and quality. However, the coat will be healthiest when Omegas 3 and 6 are provided at the right ratios (ideally 3:1 Omega 3 to Omega 6). Diets that don’t provide adequate amounts of fatty acids could result in a dry hair coat that’s more susceptible to damage and a dull appearance.

Fresh spring grass is a great source of Omega 3 and 6 fatty acids, at the correct ratio. However, if your horse is on limited grazing or stabled, adding ExSelenium Oil to their daily diet will help provide the right balance of Omega 3 and 6 fatty acids to support the healthiest new coat, and supplies an additional source of energy in the form of fat to further support the coat shedding and growth process.

Keeping it Balanced

Vitamin A is a key nutrient that plays a role in skin and ultimately coat health and whilst equine dietary deficiencies are rare, they can occur if you are feeding lower quality hay or if you horse has no access to fresh grass. While the precursor to vitamin A, beta-carotene, is abundant in fresh forages, it is lost from hay at a rate of almost 10% per month. Therefore, by late winter/early spring hay might have lost 50% of its beta-carotene, and by the time hay is a year old it’s likely horses will need an additional vitamin A source to meet their basic dietary requirements and support healthy coat growth.

Vitamin E is a key component of a healthy skin and coat because it provides antioxidant support and helps boost immunity. Immunity is important in guarding against skin conditions and disease which could affect hair growth and quality, so making sure your horse’s diet provides Vitamin E is essential to support optimal coat growth and moulting.  

Biotin is another essential vitamin which helps to promote optimum coat growth and integrity and is produced by your horse’s hindgut microbes as part of the fermentation of forage, so ensuring your horse has access to ad-lib forage will help keep those gut microbes happy and healthy and maximise Biotin synthesis.   Feeding Coligone Liquid or Powder will also help provide essential pro and pre-biotics to nurture these all important microbes and further support Biotin production.

Copper and Zinc have key roles in skin and coat health and making sure requirements are met will also help support coat colour. Both these minerals impact melanin, the protein in hair that is responsible for pigmentation. If the hair contains inadequate amounts of melanin, it is unable to resist damage from ultraviolet light, resulting in oxidative damage and coat colour fading.

Zinc deficiency can result in slow wound healing, hair loss and rough and/or dry skin and studies in horses have shown that feeding organic zinc increased hair elasticity and strength.

Copper is also needed by the enzyme lysyl oxidase, which is necessary for the maintenance of the cross-bridges in collagen within skin. Without adequate copper these cross linkages are weakened, and the skin loses structural integrity, which will have an impact on coat growth and integrity. Copper is involved in the multiplication of dermal papilla cells, which are involved in hair growth, and is also part of keratin synthesis.  Signs of copper deficiency include a dry dull poor coat, poor hair condition and uneven hair growth and shedding which means this key mineral is pivotal to ensure a smooth transition between moulting and new coat growth.

A good source of vitamins and minerals to support optimum coat shedding and the best spring coat, is therefore, essential, particularly if your horse has reduced access to fresh grass.  Adding a comprehensive balancer like Coligone Balancer or high specification vitamin and mineral supplement like MultiVit Pro is ideal to ensure your horse gets an optimal supply.

Providing a balanced diet with appropriate levels of protein, trace minerals, and vitamins supports the healthiest skin and coat. Ensuring that your horses diet meets all their dietary requirements before shedding starts will mean the new coat will be fully supported from the very beginning of its growth.

The right nutrition combined with good care and grooming will help keep the moulting process as smooth as possible, and enable a perfect transition to a strong, shiny healthy coat, ready for summer.

If you have any questions about creating the best diet for your horse and keeping your horse healthy through the right nutrition, please get in touch.