What is the best feed for horses?
- Thread starter Alex786
- Start date
Horses need a lot of forage, about 2-3% of their body weight per day, so for a 500kg horse you're looking to feed 10-15kg of forage per day, forage can be grass, hay or haylage.
Weather or not the horse needs additional calories will decide what, if any, bucket feed you need to give, good mixed species grass will provide everything they need generally, but if part or all of their diet is made up of preserved forage (hay/haylage) you will likely need to supplement certain vitamins and minerals that are depleted in the preserving process.
Balancers contain vitamins, minerals and proteins without too many calories, so are a good option for an easy keeper, vitamin and mineral supplements are also an option, they are similar to balancers but don't contain protein. Complete feeds are another option but they will contain significant calories, so are more suited to hard keepers.
Personally I try to avoid adding to many grains to my horses diets, most of mine don't need the extra calories or energy, the one who does need more calories gets a bit more excitable on it and ends up running the extra calories off in the field so it doesn't work as well for him. I like fiber based feeds that are digested more slowly and release their energy more slowly.
There is no simple answer to what feed is best, it really depends on the horse you get, where you keep it (how much turnout they get, how much and quality of grass there is) and what you do with the horse so its really impossible to decide before you get your horse.
Weather or not the horse needs additional calories will decide what, if any, bucket feed you need to give, good mixed species grass will provide everything they need generally, but if part or all of their diet is made up of preserved forage (hay/haylage) you will likely need to supplement certain vitamins and minerals that are depleted in the preserving process.
Balancers contain vitamins, minerals and proteins without too many calories, so are a good option for an easy keeper, vitamin and mineral supplements are also an option, they are similar to balancers but don't contain protein. Complete feeds are another option but they will contain significant calories, so are more suited to hard keepers.
Personally I try to avoid adding to many grains to my horses diets, most of mine don't need the extra calories or energy, the one who does need more calories gets a bit more excitable on it and ends up running the extra calories off in the field so it doesn't work as well for him. I like fiber based feeds that are digested more slowly and release their energy more slowly.
There is no simple answer to what feed is best, it really depends on the horse you get, where you keep it (how much turnout they get, how much and quality of grass there is) and what you do with the horse so its really impossible to decide before you get your horse.
It depends entirely on the horse. As has been said fibre is important, the minimum requirement for long term health is 1.5% of bodyweight, but even how that is provided depends on the horse for example a very good doer may be kept on an almost grass free paddock and fed well soaked then rinsed hay to give him fibre with minimal calories while a poor doer may be put on good grass and still need supplementing with hard feed.
Hard feed has a huge variety depending on the horse and what you are feeding for. The current fashion is for fibre feeds but for some horses in hard work or that are not big eaters these may not be enough. Don't rely on how the feed is named to give you a reliable idea of how suitable it is, instead read the ingredients and nutritional information on the bag or manufacturers website.
Nearly everyone would agree that some sort of vit and min supplement should be provided.
My best advice to you would be when you get a horse arrange for an independent nutritionist to visit who will be able to look at your horse and tell you what is best for him.
Hard feed has a huge variety depending on the horse and what you are feeding for. The current fashion is for fibre feeds but for some horses in hard work or that are not big eaters these may not be enough. Don't rely on how the feed is named to give you a reliable idea of how suitable it is, instead read the ingredients and nutritional information on the bag or manufacturers website.
Nearly everyone would agree that some sort of vit and min supplement should be provided.
My best advice to you would be when you get a horse arrange for an independent nutritionist to visit who will be able to look at your horse and tell you what is best for him.
horse feed companies recommend feeding by weight and calculate recommended portions by body weight. If you just go by eye, you may be under or over-feeding your horse. At least weigh the portions to calculate the amount, and then mark your scoop so you're feeding the same amount each time
If I fed my horses the recommended amount on the average bag they’d be enormous and probably have laminitis.
The recommended feeding rate is the required amount of that feed to get the required amount of nutrients to thrive, you really must critically assess the condition of the horse (body condition scoring is a highly recommended method) and provide feed according to that and if you need less than the recommended feeding rate to maintain body condition you need to supplement vitamins, minerals and protein appropriately in a product that doesn’t supply many calories. Equally if you need more than recommended you may need to adjust down certain minerals such as selenium to prevent toxic overdose.
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As @Jessey has said this is not a good approach to take, in fact I'd go as far as to say it's a very bad idea. And I don't see why you start a thread asking what is the best feed for horses but now are telling us what we should be doing! It seems to me, looking at this and your other posts, that you're asking questions for the sake if it and then trying to appear more knowledgeable than you are. Almost anyone with hands on experience of caring for horses will tell you that the rations suggested by the feed bags are laughable, the only thing they're good for is selling a lot more feed than is needed and keeping vets/farriers/horse behaviourists in business sorting out the mess caused by over feeding!
Depends entirely on the horse, their workload, their temperament and other individual needs.
I've had one horse I've needed to feed for ulcer prevention, one to maintain condition and current horse is fed to manage metabolic syndromes and an alfalfa allergy so need ultra low starch & sugar but with enough energy for a fairly substantial workload without lucerne.
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