Horse Feeding Dos and Don’ts

DO: Feed plenty of high-quality forage.

Since horses originated within the wild as grazing animals, they do finest when consuming a food regimen of largely forage (hay and/or pasture). Grain is a contemporary invention—a type of concentrated energy fed to horses that do plenty of train, or laborious keepers that need assistance placing weight on.

Horses must eat a minimal of 1.5 p.c of their physique weight in forage (dry weight) per day, which equates to fifteen kilos for the typical 1,000-pound horse. A fantastic funding is a scale to weigh your parts. Put the hay in a hay web and cling it from a fish or baggage scale. Horses that want extra hay may be fed free-choice (limitless), which equates to as much as roughly 2.5 p.c of their physique weight per day.

Lush pasture grass could be very excessive in energy and can typically pack the kilos on quicker than hay will. Restrict grazing time in case your horse turns into chubby, and go for feeding hay as a substitute.

DON’T: Feed poor-quality hay.

Most horses eat extra hay than pasture, so be vigilant about hay high quality. Hay must be freed from weeds, particles, mildew or any musty odor. It doesn’t essentially should be shiny inexperienced in coloration, however hay ought to odor contemporary and be extra tender than stemmy.

Hay contaminated with useless mammals may cause botulism, which is extra more likely to occur when making spherical bales. At all times vaccinate your horse for botulism if you happen to feed spherical bales, and solely purchase people who had been saved below cowl. Spherical bales made for cattle are normally too poor high quality for horses.

Be significantly choosy about mildew in your hay. Reject all the load if you happen to look at some bales and discover apparent black or brown mildew, or odor a musty scent. Mildew particles will injury your horse’s airway and trigger respiratory illness that may completely have an effect on his respiration.

In the event you feed alfalfa hay, verify for leaf shatter earlier than shopping for. If the leaves shatter too simply, you’ll be dropping a substantial amount of the hay’s diet earlier than your horse is ready to eat it. Even be looking out for blister beetles that feed on alfalfa. They launch a toxin referred to as cantharadin, and even small particles of those beetles include sufficient toxin to make a horse fairly sick.

DO: Be ready for a hay scarcity.

Many areas of the nation are regularly, however not predictably, hit with drought years. This drives up the price of hay when it must be introduced in from farther away, or makes it inconceivable to seek out altogether.

So long as it’s baled and saved correctly, hay that was harvested at a later maturity or has sat in storage for as much as a 12 months can nonetheless be fantastic to feed, significantly when choices are restricted. Some horses could discover mature hay unpalatable, nevertheless, and refuse to eat it. Older bales which can be freed from extreme mud are normally fantastic as soon as opened, despite the fact that the skin could also be bleached in coloration, indicating vitamin loss.

Be ready forward of time by shopping for as a lot hay as you may retailer at a time (as much as a 12 months’s value), and know your options. Ask your feed retailer about bagged hay cubes or different “hay stretchers,” corresponding to full feeds, to make your remaining hay go so far as attainable. Use feeders or hay nets over rubber mats to forestall waste and trampling.

DON’T: Enable simple keepers an excessive amount of pasture.

Though horses are naturally grazing animals, farm pasture grasses are normally improved nutritionally to supply additional energy. The starches, sugars and fructan in grass can result in crippling laminitis, a painful irritation within the hooves, if eaten in extra.

Horses that achieve weight simply — typically referred to as simple keepers — are most in danger for pasture-related laminitis. Indicators that the pasture could also be storing additional starch, sugar and fructan (as a substitute of placing them towards plant development) embrace any time it’s sunny however the temperatures go beneath 40 levels Fahrenheit, and when the grass is pressured by drought or overgrazing.

DO: Handle your pastures fastidiously.

It might be tempting to have a look at the abundance of spring grass and add extra horses to your pasture, however that’s normally not a good suggestion. Relying on how arid your area is, you might want 1 to 10 acres per horse for satisfactory full-time grazing.

To attenuate naked spots that may get colonized by weeds, pastures must be rested. Ideally, it’s best to have two or extra fields to rotate your horses between. It’s not essential to spend plenty of cash on fencing; for inside pasture separation, you should utilize step-in T-posts and electrical tape with a photo voltaic charger. At all times use a stable perimeter fence for security.

In case your pasture has been overcrowded and grazed down or has suffered from a drought, it’s finest to re-seed and wait six to 12 months earlier than returning horses to the sector. Weeds must be managed with mowing or an herbicide; comply with instructions for conserving livestock off the pasture till it’s protected for grazing.

DON’T: Overlook the train.

A match horse, like a match human, may have better muscle mass and bone density. For a horse with minor arthritis, low-intensity motion can assist alleviate aches and pains and maintain him feeling higher. For chubby horses, an train program is completely important for well being and shedding kilos.

DO: Feed a balanced food regimen.

Since hay alone could not present your horse with sufficient energy, many horse house owners complement the food regimen with grain. In case your horse wants grain for additional energy, it’s best to use a commercially formulated horse feed. These will likely be nutritionally balanced to satisfy the vitamin and mineral necessities of horses, not like a straight grain (corn, oats, barley, et cetera).

DON’T: Overfeed your horse.

It’s useful to find out about physique situation scoring so you may maintain your horse from changing into overweight and affected by associated well being issues. Some ponies and sure horse breeds are very simple keepers and don’t must eat grain. Thankfully, ration balancers are made by most business feed corporations that include all of the nutritional vitamins and minerals a horse wants with out all of the energy present in grain. Speak to somebody educated at your feed retailer that can assist you choose a ration balancer.

Moreover, all the time maintain your feed room/grain bin locked up in order that your horse can’t break in and gorge on feed. This occurs greater than you would possibly assume, and may result in a life-threatening bout of laminitis.

DO: Feed concentrated energy in case your horse wants them.

On the opposite finish of the dimensions are laborious keepers, typically Thoroughbreds or Thoroughbred crosses. This kind of horse requires the next calorie consumption to remain at a wholesome weight. In case your horse is already consuming limitless high-quality hay and a most quantity of grain (not more than 5 kilos per meal with a purpose to stop digestive upset), you may add fats to his feed to complement energy.

Vegetable oil is probably the most cheap type of supplementary fats, and most horses desire the style of corn oil above all others. Begin off by including simply a few tablespoons to every grain meal, working upward over a span of two weeks to a most of 1 cup of oil twice a day. It takes time for a horse’s physique to be taught to metabolize fats and get used to the style, because it’s not naturally present in giant portions within the equine food regimen. After acclimating, he could also be fantastic with consuming these portions.

For choosy eaters, or if you wish to incorporate a fats supply with extra omega-3 fatty acids (corn oil is principally omega-6 fatty acids), you should buy a powdered equine fats complement on the feed retailer that could be extra palatable. These are formulated to assist put weight on and be tasty, and infrequently include rice bran.

DON’T: Ignore your horse’s particular wants.

In case your horse is a senior citizen or has a well being situation corresponding to insulin resistance, he’ll in all probability want a extra specialised food regimen. Speak to your vet about his particular person wants.

If a senior is lacking tooth, he could must eat soaked hay cubes or senior feed with a purpose to ingest sufficient forage and/or energy in his food regimen. Beet pulp is one other extremely digestible supply of energy from fiber, though plain beet pulp just isn’t a balanced feed and shouldn’t make up greater than 25 p.c of the food regimen. At all times soak it in loads of water for no less than one hour earlier than feeding to forestall choke. You probably have any left over, it must be fed inside the day in order that it doesn’t start to ferment.

DO: Pay attention to particular considerations for kids.

Younger horses have particular dietary wants. You probably have a younger horse that’s nonetheless rising, he may have barely increased protein and calcium wants than an grownup horse. The calcium/phosphorus and different mineral ratios within the food regimen are significantly necessary right now, so it’s best to speak to your equine veterinarian, a nutritionist at a feed firm, or an equine extension agent to see if the food regimen you’re feeding is suitable. Feeding concentrates (grain) made particularly for younger, rising horses will have in mind these specific wants.

You also needs to keep away from elevating an chubby/overweight teen, as joint pressure at this age may cause everlasting injury. Use your physique situation scoring chart typically to verify he stays in the midst of the BCS vary.

DON’T: Oversupplement.

In the event you’ve spent any period of time in a feed retailer, you’ve in all probability observed the quite a few equine oral dietary supplements available on the market. The range may be dizzying.

Dietary supplements exist to handle particular well being points from digestion to respiratory well being. In case your vet recommends making an attempt a joint complement for an arthritic horse, for instance, strive it out and see if you happen to discover a distinction after six weeks. If there are further points you wish to tackle with dietary supplements, verify along with your vet or an equine nutritionist to verify your horse’s food regimen stays balanced while you add your dietary supplements.

DO: Present free-choice salt.

A hay and grain food regimen normally doesn’t present ample salt, significantly throughout hotter climate. At all times maintain a salt supply in your horse’s area or stall; a number of varieties can be found. In case your horse will lick a daily salt block, you may select both a white or trace-mineral (brown) kind. Newer to the market are Himalayan salt licks, which may be extra palatable for horses that don’t like the opposite stable varieties. A free-choice feeder for free salt can also be an choice in case your horse doesn’t like a block.

DON’T: Overlook the water.

Many individuals overlook that water is the No. 1 nutrient your horse wants. Horses are sometimes delicate to soiled water or water that’s too scorching. Be sure that your horse all the time has loads of clear water at a great ingesting temperature. When troughs freeze or buckets sit empty, there’s the potential for digestive contents to dry out in his gastrointestinal tract and trigger impaction colic, a really critical veterinary emergency that’s simply prevented with a little bit of diligence on this space.

This text about horse feeding dos and don’ts initially appeared within the 2014 version of Your New Horse.