Types of Carbohydrates in Horse Feed Diets

Confused about carbs? Get the low-down on some common carbohydrates found in horse feeds.
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The topic of carbohydrates for horses gets a lot of people asking questions and has created a certain amount of confusion, particularly when comparing carbohydrates in equine diets to human dietary recommendations. Starches, carbohydrates, sugars, non-structural carbohydrates (NSC) and non-fibrous carbohydrates (NFC), among others, are terms thrown around for equine diets, and all those terms can get very intimidating when it comes to what these nutrients mean to your horse and how much your horse needs or doesn’t need.

Here are a few of the common terms, and what they include:

Structural Carbohydrates—This category includes primarily the carbohydrates that are part of the cell wall in plants. This will include the neutral detergent fibers (NDF), primarily lignin, cellulose and hemicelluloses. These carbohydrates are all fiber sources that give cell walls strength and shape. Some types of fiber analysis, such as the total digestible fiber (TDF) measurement used in human nutrition, will include the structural carbohydrates plus pectins, gums, beta glucans, and some polysaccharides. These are the carbohydrates that are not broken down by enzymes and need to be fermented in the hind gut of the horse. 

Non-Structural Carbohydrates (NSC)—This includes the sugars and starches. This is a very important group of nutrients for horses because these are the carbohydrates that can be broken down by enzymes and absorbed from the small intestine into the blood stream as glucose and stored as glycogen in the muscles and in the liver. Ideally, NSCs get absorbed entirely in the small intestine before they reach the cecum and large intestine, where they can be problematic for horses. When people ask about a “low-carb” diet, they are frequently really asking about a low NSC diet

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Written by:

Roy A. Johnson, MS, is an equine technology manager for Cargill Animal Nutrition. In his role, he is responsibile for the development of horse feeds for U.S. business, including feeds for Nutrena, ACCO, Agway, and private label brands. A former professional horse trainer, farm manager, and horse judging coach, Johnson was an assistant professor in the Agricultural Production Division at the University of Minnesota-Wasecae before joining Cargill. Johnson has also participated in a successful Thoroughbred racing partnership._x000D_

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