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Feeding for Topline and Condition in Horses... the Issues

Feeding for Topline and Condition in Horses... the Issues

We all want our horses looking good and performing to their best. Many disciplines such as Hack classes reward well conditioned horses with a good topline. 

What is condition and topline?

Condition is measured using a 9 point score from poor/emaciated (1) through to extremely fat/obese (9). 

The upper curvature of a horse's withers, back, and loin is called the "topline."

A healthy topline reflects balanced nutrition, exercise, and metabolic health, not just extra feed.

Key Points About Condition and Topline

  1. Condition and topline are both built from a combination of muscle and fat.
  2. Sports horses conditioned for endurance and racing generally have little fat on the topline.
  3. A Body Condition Score (BCS) of 5 or above means more visible fat covering the muscle.
  4. Overconditioning can lead to metabolic problems, including insulin resistance and laminitis.
  5. High grain feeds are often used for conditioning and topline. Feeds with NSC >15% however may cause behavioural and metabolic issues.
  6. Oil based feeds are a satisfactory alternative to grain.
  7. Not all oils are the same. Tropical oils such as coconut oil do no go rancid, are palatable and are efficiently metabolisd
  8. Coolstance coconut meal is an all natural GMO free source of non glucose energy for improving topline and condition

How Do You Build Condition and Topline? 

 Achieving optimal condition and topline requires: 

  •  Appropriate exercise for the horse’s discipline 
  •  A balanced diet high in digestible energy (DE) but low in non-structural carbohydrates (NSC) 

Oils provide 2.4x more energy per gram than carbohydrates or protein. This makes them a powerful, efficient energy source without the glucose spike.

As explained below, oil and digestible fibre are the "key secret" high energy, components in a diet for topline and condition

How is body fat formed...some science


  • Glucose. 

  1. Sugar  is digested in the intestines and converted to glucose. Glucose enters the bloodstream, and the hormone insulin is released to prompt the muscle cells to take up the glucose as an energy source and to maintain acceptable blood glucose levels. The muscle cells are Sensitive to Insulin. Some of the glucose is converted into fatty acids and stored in the fat cells. As the level of NSC increases, the amount of glucose stored as fat will increase, unless the horse is worked harder. Horses tend to store abdominal fat before a noticeable change to the topline.

  • Oil. 

  1. The horse does not have a bile gland, and hence secretes bile continuously into the small intestine to enable absorption of fatty acids into the lymphatics. Most oils are transported to the liver via the lymphatics. Coconut oil is unique in that it is absorbed directly into the portal blood. Fatty acids are stored in the fat cells as triglycerides. Fatty acids cannot be converted to glucose, and are used directly to produce energy inside the muscle cells. Fatty acids do not increase insulin, and hence are termed "cool energy". There is a limit to how much oil can be included in the diet. Levels above 15% may reduce fibre digestion. However the energy content at 2.4 times that of carbohydrates means a "small amount" can be the substitute for a large component of the grains in the diet.

    Importantly, not all oils behave the same in the horses diet.  Vegetable oils such as linseed, and fish oil have higher ratios of Omega 3 fatty acid, and therefore provide a beneficial balance to the high Omega 6 found in most grains. These are unsaturated fatty acids. By comparison, the tropical oils such as coconut oil are unique in that they are saturated medium chain triglycerides (MCT), do not go rancid,   Coconut oil also contains lauric acid, which is converted to monolauren in the body, which may provide antibacterial actions.

  • Digestible fibre. 

  1. Digestible fibres are complex carbohydrates that are slowly digested and broken down into glucose. These are termed "slow feeds". Horses, are naturally "slow feeders" meaning most chaff, grassy hay, and medium quality lucerne hay are ideal and necessary components of the diet.


Feeding high NSC for condition ..the downside

Many feeds contain levels of NSC above 20% and will maintain good body condition, and in many cases cause obesity. The downside is that high NSC feeds are often associated with hot or fizzy behaviour, and the metabolic disorders including ulcers, lameness, laminitis, tying up, insulin resistance, EMS and possibly Cushings through the effects of insulin on cortisol. Studies indicate that feeding high NSC feeds to  pregnant mares predisposes the foals to insulin resistance because of the high levels of insulin crossing the placenta into the foetus.

High NSC and Insulin ..why these cause problems

When high NSC feeds (>15% NSC) are fed, the horse produces more insulin to lower the levels of glucose in the blood. The muscle cells can become Insulin Resistant i.e. they are unable to take up more glucose, and so are resistant to higher levels of insulin. The levels of insulin and glucose in the blood rise. What does the horse do with the increased glucose? If the horse is in extreme sports work, then it may use the extra glucose for energy. If not, then some of the glucose is converted to fatty acids. In addition, depending on breed, some of the glucose can be stored as a polysaccharide and stored in muscle cells causing tying up (PSSM) and some will form a proteoglycan and be stored in connective tissue in the legs causing lameness (see other articles in this series).

High Insulin ..the issues 

High levels of insulin cause: 

  1. Increased uptake of fatty acids into the fat cells by increasing the activity of the enzyme LPL (lipoprotein lipase) on the wall of the fat cells.
  2. Reduced breakdown of triglycerides into fatty acids inside the fat cell by suppressing the enzyme HSL (hormone sensitive lipase). This means the fatty acids cant get out of the fat cells until the insulin level drops.
  3. Creation of more fat cells.
  4. Liver to increase production of triglycerides and transport to the fat cells.
  5. Partitioning of energy from the diet into fat cells, and so energy is not available for the muscles.  The horse therefore is hungry, even though it is fat.
  6. Increased feed intake. If the horse eats more of the high NSC feed, it produces more insulin and gets fatter.
  7. Inflammation from Omega 6 fatty acids in the grain, tissue stress and hence increased production of cortisol.

This is a vicious cycle. This happens in humans. For more information see "Why We Get Fat" by Gary Taubes.

High levels of cortisol ..the issues 

Cortisol is the "stress or anxiety hormone" released from the adrenal gland. Cortisol exacerbates insulin resistance by increasing fat storage and raising blood pressure and circulating glucose which further stimulate insulin. High levels of cortisol are involved in Cushing's disease. The question remains is glucose causing insulin resistance and stress, causing increased cortisol [and sometimes leading to Cushing's], or is it that the cortisol increases glucose causing IR in these horses? [Reference)

The Better Way: Feeding for Condition Without Risk

'Why We Get Fat' outlines the role of sugar and starch in obesity and diabetes Type II in humans. If you want to lose weight and reduce the incidence of diabetes, avoid refined carbohydrates!  The same logic applies to horses and dogs. To put weight and condition on your horse, and avoid the NSC related disorders, you have to select a high digestible energy (DE) feed with low NSC, and high digestible fibre. This can only be achieved by including oil in the diet to replace the carbohydrates. The following table shows the relationship between NSC content and DE in a range of feeds. Low NSC is usually associated with pasture and hay, or feeds that have been diluted with fillers. High NSC feeds are grain based. Molasses has a very high NSC from the sugars. Copra meal has a low NSC and yet has a high DE from the oil and digestible fibre. The graph depicts Molasses and Copra being the outliers in the almost straight line between NSC % and DE MJ/kg for the other feedstuffs.  Molasses is almost 70% sugar. CoolStance copra  has a low NSC (11) and yet a high DE (15)


A range of Australian horse feeds were analysed for NSC content by Dairy One in the US.

These analyses show that there is a large variation in the NSC content in horse feeds, and that CoolStance is the only feed that has both a high digestible energy and a low NSC.

Stance Supplements for Topline

Conclusion: Feed Smart for Performance and Health 

 Topline and condition can be built through: 

  •  Balanced exercise 
  •  Smart energy sources: oil and digestible fibre 
  •  Avoidance of excessive sugars and starches 

 Feeding high NSC may give short-term gains in condition but often leads to long-term issues including insulin resistance, obesity, and bad behaviour. 

 Choose feeds like CoolStance copra for a safe, natural, low-NSC energy boost that supports topline without triggering metabolic stress.



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