Understanding Feeds for the Busy Owner
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Providing a complete and balanced diet does not need to be
complicated or a drain on time, energy, or
finances.
Feeding horses can be a daunting and time-consuming task,
particularly if owners attempt to optimize and maximize their
horse's diet by unnecessarily introducing concentrates,
vitamins, or other supplements. But providing a complete diet
does not have to be time- consuming or expensive.
Step 1: Stop!
Horses require six nutrients in their diet: water,
carbohydrates, fats, protein, vitamins, and minerals. Except
for most of the water requirements, almost all of a horse's
remaining dietary requirements can be obtained from a single
source: forage.
TIME-SAVING TIP
Pre-weigh 10- to 12-pound stacks of hay one or two days a
week. This will allow you to quickly throw your horse a
properly weighed feeding of hay on days when time is
tight.
"Adult horses that are not involved in moderate to heavy work
do not generally require grain," advises Eleanor Kellon, VMD,
proprietor of Equine Nutrition Solutions in Pennsylvania.
In fact, Kellon suggests that many horses will maintain an
appropriate body weight and obtain all necessary nutrients on
pasture and free-choice hay alone.
The only exception to this rule is sodium. According to Equine
Extension Specialist Carey Williams, PhD, from the Equine
Science Center at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey,
all horses require plain white salt, regardless of their
feeding regime. The salt can be offered either free-choice as a
salt block or as 1-2 tablespoons top-dressed if the horse does
not care for the licks.
A mineral block (widely known as the "red block") is not
essential, required, or recommended for the majority of horses
because the levels of minerals (other than sodium) in the block
are not at the level required by horses.
"In addition, some horses may consume a 50-pound block in a
matter of days, which could cause problems with the mineral
balance of their system," explains Williams.
Step 2: Weigh your Hay
If owners wish to feed hay in a daily ration instead of
free-choice, each horse requires approximately 1.5 to 2.5% of
their body weight in hay per day. Therefore, an average
1,000-pound horse will eat approximately 20 pounds of hay on a
daily basis. Since counting flakes or "eyeballing" hay is an
unreliable estimate at best, the only way to know how much hay
you are feeding is to weigh it.
Kellon recommends using a bathroom scale in the barn. Weigh
yourself and then weigh yourself again holding the hay.
Alternatively, an inexpensive fish scale can be easily used in
any barn.
For horses that are on pasture and being fed a ration of hay
each day, the amount of required hay to meet their daily energy
requirements can still be determined easily. A horse on
good-quality pasture 24 hours a day, seven days a week, will
meet his full 2% body weight energy requirement. Therefore, if
a horse is on pasture half of this time, one could assume that
1% of his body weight is required in hay, which is equivalent
to approximately 10 pounds of hay for an average 1,000-pound
horse. Similarly, if the horse is on pasture only one-quarter
of the time, then 1.5% of his daily energy should be supplied
as hay (i.e., 15 pounds of hay per day).
The only complicating factor is if the pasture is overgrazed.
If the pasture is grazed down approximately 50%, then a horse
on pasture full time is likely only receiving 50% of his daily
energy requirement. In this situation, an additional 1% of his
body weight in forage (or 10 pounds of hay for an average
1,000-pound horse) will be required. Horses turned out on a 50%
grazed pasture half of their time will, therefore, only be
eating one-quarter of their daily energy requirement and will
need to be fed three-quarters of their energy requirement in
supplemental hay--approximately 15 pounds of hay for an average
1,000-pound horse.
Some equine nutritionists would argue these estimations on
grass consumption during turnout are oversimplified. While
there are few studies on pasture intake, there are estimates
that horses can eat 0.5-1kg (1.1-2.1 pounds) of pasture dry
matter per hour when they are turned out. Good quality pasture
is usually higher in calories and other nutrients than hay, so
they will often eat more than 50% of their requirements during
a half-day turnout.
Step 3: Evaluate Body Condition
The only way to determine if your horse is being fed enough (or
too much) using the forage-only approach is to properly
evaluate body condition.
"In my experience, many owners either overfeed their horses
because they like their horses overweight, or they are not
familiar with what a healthy weight looks like," explains
Kellon.
Just like in human medicine, obesity in horses is detrimental.
Overweight horses are unable to dissipate heat during strenuous
or prolonged exercise, and they can become resistant to the
effects of insulin. This, in turn, is thought to contribute to
the development of laminitis. Further, overweight horses find
infrequent work (e.g., the weekend ride) challenging due to the
extra body weight they carry.
Kellon suggests a horse is considered overweight if:
* The ribs are difficult to feel even with firm digital
pressure;
* There is a bulging, "cresty" neck;
* The withers are rounded and only the tip of the spinous
processes are easily felt or they are covered in fat;
* The girth makes an indent in the horse's fat when
tightened;
* The saddle makes an indent in the fat on the horse's
back;
* The shoulder blade of the horse cannot be easily seen and is
not distinguishable from the neck, shoulder, and body of the
horse.
* The area surrounding the tailhead is bulging and feels soft,
or;
* The inner thighs touch each other more than a quarter of the
way down the inner thigh region when the horse is standing
square.
Ideally, horses at an appropriate body weight have ribs and hip
bones that are not visible, but they are easily felt.
Exceptions to the "Forage Only" Rule
Adult horses that typically require an additional source of
calories to maintain an appropriate body condition are those
with higher energy demands, such as competitive horses,
broodmares, or the infamous "hard keepers." A horse might also
lose condition if he has problems with teeth that require
veterinary attention or if he's low in the pecking order in his
herd situation and simply is not getting enough to eat. Horses
falling into this latter category can be separated from the
herd and fed an additional ration of hay each day.
Even if only poor-quality (not moldy) hay is available, the
daily energy requirements for most horses can still be met to
maintain an appropriate condition without the addition of
concentrates. Williams advises that if only poor-quality hay is
available, then a basic multivitamin/mineral supplement should
be fed to the horse on a daily basis.
For owners uncomfortable with feeding poor-quality hay or if
hay is either prohibitively expensive or unavailable, then
forage substitutes such as beet pulp without molasses, hay
cubes, pellets, or bagged hay chaff can be considered. Again,
switching to a forage substitute does not necessitate the
addition of concentrates!
"For horses that are not maintaining their condition on their
current diet, the first step is to simply increase the amount
of forage," suggests Williams. Increasing the amount of forage
by 2-5 pounds per day gradually over the course of two to three
weeks may be sufficient, assuming the horse is cleaning up his
hay. If the horse is losing condition and not cleaning up his
hay, then an additional source of energy will be required and
concentrates should be considered.
How to Use Concentrates
The first step in adding concentrates to a horse's diet is to
visit a local feed store to determine what kinds and brands of
products are available. For average adult horses, a basic
pelleted feed or sweet feed (i.e., concentrates mixed with
molasses to improve palatability) containing 10-12% crude
protein and 3-10% fat is sufficient.
"The most important consideration when introducing a
concentrated food is to keep feeding the exact same amount of
forage and increase the amount of concentrate extremely slowly,
which necessitates weighing the concentrate," emphasizes
Williams.
TIME- AND MONEY-SAVING TIP
Simple, inexpensive multivitamin/mineral products are
available either in pelleted or powder formulas. Feed the
recommended dose each day to horses only when good-quality hay
is unavailable.
She recommends starting with 1 pound of concentrate per day,
divided into two or three feedings. The amount of concentrate
fed can be increased by a half-pound every two to three days.
No more than 6-8 pounds of concentrate should be fed per horse
per day, and definitely no more than 3-5 pounds at any single
feeding.
Kellon advises that if the expected results are not achieved
after adding concentrates according to the manufacturer's
recommendations, the owner should consult his or her
veterinarian.
One additional product worth mentioning is the complete feed.
Complete feeds are pelleted or extruded food products that
contain forage, protein, oils, vitamins, and minerals. While
complete feeds contain all of the required energy and essential
nutrients, horses fed complete feeds consume their ration very
quickly, leaving the remainder of the day with nothing to
do.
"Horses are grazers by nature and normally spend the majority
of their day eating," explains Williams. Feeding complete
feeds, which are not intended to be supplemented with hay or
other types of forage, leaves too much time for horses to
partake in "other" activities, such as cribbing and additional
destructive behaviors.
Additional Resources
For product-specific questions, the best resources for owners
are the manufacturers. Feed producers will be able to provide
detailed information regarding energy, mineral content, etc.,
for their specific feeds.
For additional information, owners are encouraged to contact
their local agriculture extension specialist. This is a
state-funded agent who provides free services for farm and
horse owners. Extension specialists provide feeding guidelines,
information regarding toxic weeds, pasture management-related
help, and they can assist owners in locating hay or suggest
appropriate forage alternatives, among other
services.
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