Dr. Jazmin Markey - PhD, PAS
This article focuses on the two primary nutritional drivers for safely building sustainable body condition in horses and ponies: 1) digestible, high-quality fibre and 2) energy supplied from fat.
Healthy body condition is built by digestible fibre first and fat second. High-quality, fermentable fibre establishes the digestive capacity required to hold condition. Fat then provides the concentrated energy needed to enhance and maintain that condition safely.
By prioritising fibre quality and layering fat-derived calories where required, body condition, bloom and controlled weight gain can be achieved without compromising digestive health and/or temperament.
Added:
Practical feeding guidelines for condition – Supply 1.5–2.0% of bodyweight per day as forage and high-quality, digestible fibre sources. Begin by looking to improve fibre quality before increasing calorie density (the amount of usable energy per pound of feed). Once digestive stability is achieved, increase energy intake using fat-based conditioning feeding products and oils rather than solely additional starch.
Assessing Body Condition
(I looked over a few posts on the UK website; I like how Rosie tends to address this topic first.)
Before changing a feeding programme, it is essential to assess a horse or pony’s body condition (score) rather than relying on bodyweight alone. Body condition scoring evaluates fat cover over key areas including the neck, withers, ribs, loin and tailhead. This helps identify whether a horse is genuinely under-conditioned, maintaining appropriately, or carrying excess fat. Importantly, horses can lose muscle and topline while still appearing well covered. For this reason, feeding programmes aimed at improving condition should focus on improving digestible energy intake and nutrient utilisation, not simply increasing meal size.
The Foundation of “Fibre First”…
Horses are designed to obtain most of their energy from fibre. Digestible fibre is fermented in the hindgut to produce volatile fatty acids (VFAs), which can supply up to approximately 70% of a horse’s maintenance energy requirement. Energy derived from fibre is released slowly and steadily, supporting stable metabolism and allowing the horse to utilise energy efficiently for body condition.
When feeding for condition, priority should be given to high-quality, digestible fibre sources, including beet pulp as well as soya hulls. These ingredients provide very safe, non-heating calories, direct support of hindgut microbial health and fermentation, and offer an excellent foundation for sustainable condition maintenance or gain. For many horses and ponies, improving fibre quality and intake alone can significantly improve overall body condition.
On the contrary, when starch replaces fibre, condition often suffers. When starch intake exceeds the digestive capacity of the small intestine, undigested starch enters the hindgut and is rapidly fermented. This disrupts microbial balance, reduces nutrient utilisation and increases the risk of hindgut acidosis, colic and/or gastric irritation. Compromised digestive function directly limits a horse’s ability to convert feed into usable energy and body tissue, making long-term sustainable body condition difficult to achieve.
Hydration – Hydrophilic fibres (those with an attraction or affinity for water) such as beet pulp retain water within the digestive tract, supporting overall gut motility and further protecting the gut lining. This improves digestion and nutrient absorption and helps maintain a stable hindgut environment.
Fibre Quality – Not all fibre is equal. Crude fibre alone does not reflect fibre quality. Measures such as acid detergent fibre (ADF) and neutral detergent fibre (NDF) are better indicators of digestibility and intake potential (values representative of the plant or ingredient’s cell wall structure). ADF helps predict how well your horse can extract energy from the fibre. NDF indicates bulkiness and how much your horse can potentially eat. Lower ADF and moderate NDF values generally indicate greater usable energy from fibre.
Salivation – Fibre promotes chewing and salivation, buffering stomach acid, and often aiding in the prevention of ulcers and promotion of “good/positive” gastric health.
Once (or if) a strong fibre and hindgut foundation is (already) established, additional condition is best supported by increasing energy density using fat. Common and reliable fat sources include stabilised rice bran, vegetable and plant oils, and/or marine-derived oils, all of which provide high-fat, low-starch options.
It is important to note that fat provides approximately 2.25 times more energy than protein or carbohydrates (starch, for example), allowing calorie intake to increase without necessarily increasing meal size. Importantly, fat does not directly ferment in the hindgut in the same way as starch and is generally used to increase energy density without the same risk of hindgut acid production. Fat also provides calm, non-heating energy and is highly suitable for sensitive, stress-prone and/or ulcer-prone horses.
Fat-based calories are particularly useful for supporting controlled, steady condition gain or maintaining topline and body condition, and improving coat quality and “bloom”.
Products listed in order/support of the article, starting with Pink Mash® (highest fibre, lowest fat concentration) and ending with Key-3 Oil™ (no fibre, highest fat concentration).
Pink Mash® – Heaven for the Hind Gut
Keyflow® Pink Mash® provides highly digestible super fibres from beetroot and soya hulls, combined with micronised linseed (flaxseed), prebiotics and probiotics to support fibre fermentation and microbial balance. It is extremely low in starch and sugar and is designed as a high-fibre foundation for horses requiring digestive support and improved condition efficiency. A safe option for sensitive or metabolic types.
Pink Mash® provides approximately 0.99 Mcal/lb digestible energy, 35% crude fibre (max), and 2.5% fat (min), making it ideal as a gut-supportive base rather than a primary calorie source.
Pink Mash® Condition
Keyflow® Pink Mash® Condition combines the proven hindgut benefits of Pink Mash® with stabilised rice bran and boosted levels of micronised linseed (flaxseed) to provide both quality, fermentable fibre and additional fat-derived calories. It provides another safe option for sensitive or metabolic types.
It provides approximately 1.43 Mcal/lb digestible energy, 20.5% crude fibre (max), and 8% fat (min), allowing condition and bloom to be supported while maintaining a low-starch, non-heating feeding profile.
In practical feeding programmes, Pink Mash® Condition functions as a combined solution, delivering the digestive benefits of Pink Mash® together with the conditioning energy traditionally supplied by a rice-bran concentrate.
Key-Plus™
Keyflow® Key-Plus™ is a steam-extruded, stabilised rice bran concentrate designed to safely increase calorie density, focusing on fat inclusion rather than starch.
It supplies approximately 1.66 Mcal/lb digestible energy, 11.5% crude fibre (max), and 16% fat (min), making it a highly effective option for poor doers and horses requiring additional condition support without increasing meal size.
Key-3 Oil™
When further energy density is required, Keyflow® Key-3 Oil™ can be added as a top-dress. Key-3 Oil™ provides an extremely concentrated calorie source (approximately 99.9% fat), allowing meaningful energy to be added without increasing feed volume.
In addition to its role as a calorie source, it supplies the long-chain omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA to support overall health and performance.
The Keyflow Range
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