Nutrition and Your Horse

Grains, Proteins, hay, oh my! 

There are so many options available to us as horse owners, it is really challenging to figure out how to feed our horses. I have figured out what works for each horse that I have based on trial and error, and you will probably have to do the same. When it comes to hay, make sure that it is a good quality hay, not straw like, and not long stemmed. Also make sure it is less than 6 months old to ensure it has retained vitamin D. 

Grain, oh what a tough topic. I have learned that graining my 4 year old arab makes her hot and doesn’t add weight. So it is not necessary, My 6 year old quarterhorse gets fat and lazy off of the same grain, while my 1 year old filly does fine with or without grain. However, I like to use grain as a way to gather them up in the evening just to say hi, and to feed any supplements that I might be adding into their feed. I give them about 3 handfuls each of grain, and the two trail horses get biotin and a vitamin/mineral supplement, while the filly gets daily wormer, as she seems more susceptible (she was a rescue), along with her vitamins and minerals. That is it. I use grain as a venue to give them more nutrients and only in the evenings. Otherwise, they have free access to a round bale of hay and grass.

All of the balancing of rations and studying nutrition does no good if you don’t follow some simple rules associated with horse maintenance. Here is a simple and practical list to help you manage your horse:

- Feed at least twice a day

- Be consistent with feed amount and type, if you must change - the feed, do so 1/4th at a time

- Make sure the horse has salt

- Provide a good cool source of water

- Control parasites, worm at least every 60 days

- Maintain their teeth- determine if they need floating

- Monitor the horses weight, you should not see their ribs.

- Provide regular exercise, horses can pull lows for 8 hours a day, a few laps around the arena is not sufficient

- Do not allow a hot horse free access to water, cool it down first, or it will colic.

- Observe the horse daily for general health. 

One more thing about grains, always feed by weight, not volume. Corn weighs twice as much as a gallon of oats.

Grain provides energy from highest to lowest:

Corn

Barley

Milo

Oats

Proteins:

Oats

Milo

Barley

Wheat

Corn

TDN: Total Digestible Nutrients

Corn - 82%

Barley - 77-78%

Milo - 76-79%

Oats - 72% (race horse oats have a much higher TDN)

If you are trying to raise your horses energy or put weight on him, you get the same result with corn and oats, based on caloric intake. Corn is cheaper; let’s take a look:

corn - 6.8 lbs = 12.3 mega calories

oats -     4 lbs = 5.6 mega calories

milo - 6.8 lbs = 10.88 mega calories

wheat -7.6 lbs= 13.4 mega calories

barley - 6 lbs = 10 mega calories

One more breakdown of the most common grains:

Oats: Safest to feed

High in fiber and protein, lowest in energy

Corn: Cheapest, but the hottest (highest energy), very heavy- so you must start horses out slow on it. Very low in fiber- need to add in fiber, low in protein. Cracked or rolled will increase digestibility, but not enough to pay much more for “processed”

Barley: Between corn and oats in TDN and fiber- do not exceed more than 50% of ration

Wheat: Very dense and expensive. DON’T buy it GROUND, Great for coat, very heavy, feed by weight, not volume and limit to 20% of ration

Wheat Bran: High in fiber- has laxative effect, shiny coat, prevents compaction reducing colic,high in phosphorus and can cause imbalance of calcium and phosphorous, but good to add in if you feed alfalfa which is high in calcium. Only 1/4 the energy than that of other grains, but much more fiber. feed 5-10% ration

Milo: Sorghum grain, cheap, needs to be processed, but not ground, less than 30% of ration

Protein Sources

 Coming Soon!