Is A Ketogenic Diet For Horses Possible? - The Horse's Advocate Podcast #161

The Ketogenic diet is popular for weight loss in humans, but does it work, and can it work with my grass-eating horses? The simple answer is yes, and you don't need to make them carnivores!

A ketone, also known as beta-hydroxybutyrate, can be produced in two ways in horses. The first is the bacterial breakdown of cellulose in their hindgut. I have discussed this elsewhere, and it is the primary source of this ketone. The second way occurs when a horse consumes its body fat, which then forms ketones. The most common way to force a horse to consume its body fat is to starve them, and this is exactly what happens in starvation. But we don't need to go that far.

What starts the horse making its own ketones is deciding to stop eating. There are two ways to do this: feed adequate amounts of high-quality protein, and stop feeding excess glucose (sugar) in the form of starch found in grains, grain mixes, balancers, supplements, treats, and excess hay. Believe it or not, but the more you feed food filled with glucose, the hungrier the horse will become. It is a paradox, but it is essential to understand if you want your horse to lose body fat, maintain muscle, become healthy, and remain sound.

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