Feeding Lusitanos & Andalusians
Feeding Iberian Horses
 The Iberian horses namely the Andalusian or Purebred Spanish Horse (PRE) and Lusitano breeds are becoming increasingly popular as riding horses in the UK. Both are ancient breeds with cave paintings from 20,000 BC depicting horses and equine activities. Both breeds originate from the Iberian Peninsula which now makes up Portugal and part of modern day Spain. The area is mountainous and rugged and the horses living there evolved to be hardy, sure footed and agile. It was these qualities that made them favoured as war horses and later in the bull ring being brave, courageous and highly manoeuvrable. Latterly both the Andalusian and Lusitano are becoming increasingly sought after as dressage horses and all-rounders, their intelligence and conformation making them ideally suited to dressage movements.
The natural environment that the Andalusian and Lusitano breeds have evolved in is very different to our British one and this can lead to problems for owners of such horses. In general the Andalusians and Lusitanos tend to be good doers that is they need little in the way of additional feed to help them maintain their weight and condition. Moreover, upon speaking to owners of such horses a common feeding related problem that regularly crops up is an intolerance to molasses or feedstuffs with a high sugar content. This may be linked back to the Andalusian and Lusitano’s natural diet that would be relatively low in sugar and as many horses are imported into the UK from their native countries leading to an unavoidable change in diet this may explain why problems occur.
For any horse changing homes can be a stressful experience, for horses changing homes within the UK it is generally reasonably easy to purchase the same feed that the horse has been used to having or for the new owner to have a supply of feed so that any changes can be made gradually. Importing horses from another country can prove to be much more tricky, for starters feed cannot just be brought into the country and trying to source a similar diet can prove difficult. So if you are excitedly awaiting the arrival of your Andalusian or Lusitano what can you do to help make the transition as smooth as possible? First of all try to gather as much information as possible from the owner about your horse’s diet, routine and management. For example asking how much, when and what type of feed your horse is given, are they turned out or stabled, if so for how long? Are they ridden on a daily basis? All of this information will help you to mimic your horse’s routine as closely as possible and if changes need to be made this can be done gradually to minimise stress. If your horse is unused to turnout on good grazing, again this needs to be done very gradually. Sudden changes to the diet can upset the balance of beneficial bacteria in the gut as they do not have time to adjust to the new feedstuff at best this can lead to loose droppings and at worst can cause serious problems such as laminitis and colic. Ideally any change to the diet should be made over a 7 to 10 day period to avoid digestive upset. For horses that have been imported often it is very difficult to provide them with a similar concentrate feed and in this instance it is best to opt for a high fibre, low sugar, low starch, low energy feed. By starting out this way the energy content of the diet can be increased as necessary, rather than choosing a higher energy feed to begin with and running into problems because it has caused the horse to become fizzy or excitable.
If you are experiencing problems with your horse, the first port of call should always be to ensure that there is no physical reason for a change in behaviour such as a saddle that does not fit correctly or dental, back or neck pain. Certainly some horses can react badly to certain ingredients and as previously mentioned molasses tends to be a common offender amongst Andalusians and Lusitanos. This is not to say that other ingredients cannot cause problems too and we often find that cereals such as barley are poorly tolerated by many horses.
Signs of an intolerance are often skin-related, for example, itchy or scurfy skin or unexplained lumps or bumps, and may also include behavioural changes such as increased excitability or bolshiness. Other horses may show signs of digestive disturbances such as loose or watery droppings, or frequent bouts of colic. Food intolerances may produce these problems and many more – they can affect the health of the horse in numerous ways.
Most of what you feed your horses probably contains significant quantities of molasses and syrups – whether the feed itself, chaff or sugar beet. Molasses and barley can often be a problem but because they are normally nutritionally sound ingredients they do appear in the majority of horse feeds available. When intolerances build up it can then be difficult to eliminate them from the diet. If the problem is not addressed, then eating foods that the body cannot digest and use properly will only stress the horse further and can lead to the number of foods that the horse reacts to increasing.
It is vitally important to consider the horse as a whole when dealing with intolerances. Supplements may help relieve symptoms in the short term, but if a feed ingredient is causing a problem then how can your horse stay healthy? It is like regularly taking painkillers for a headache, when what you should be doing is finding out what is causing the headache in the first place.
If you suspect that feed may be causing a problem for your horse the first step is to carry out, with veterinary approval, an exclusion diet, that is feeding only products that do not contain the suspected offending ingredient for a few weeks to see if the horse improves and then challenging it by feeding those ingredients again to see if things get worse.
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