Horse Nutrition and Feeding
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- Attaining a working knowledge of the composition of two or three
typical horse feeds and what your own specific horse requires is not difficult.
All it requires is an attitude of wanting to know.
- Alfalfa, either as high quality hay or pellets, will alleviate protein,
calcium, vitamin A, trace mineral and B vitamin shortages in most types of horse
rations.
- No specific mention of the requirements for B vitamins, vitamins C, D, and
E, or specific trace minerals has been made. There are two reasons for this: 1)
Under normal circumstances the occurrence of deficiencies of B vitamins,
vitamins C, D, and E and the trace minerals have not been well documented; and
2) We do not know what the requirements are for those nutrients. This is not to
say that horses don't have requirements for those nutrients. But it does imply
that good rations normally meet those requirements and that many horses receive
supplementations of one kind or another in excess of what they need. There is no
short circuit scheme of performing nutrition miracles.
- Trace-mineralized salt contains no calcium, and phosphorus and dicalcium
phosphorus are not a source of selenium, manganese or other trace minerals. A
horse has a natural craving for salt but has neither a particular appetite or
natural instinct to seek out sources of calcium or phosphorus. Therefore, the
way to supplement horses with calcium or phosphorus (limestone and dicalcium
phosphate are rich but unpalatable sources) is to mix trace-mineralized salt
with limestone or dicalcium phosphate. If the ration is deficient or an
inappropriate calcium: phosphorus ratio exists, in the summer mix 75 percent
salt and in the winter 60 percent salt with the proper source of calcium or
phosphorus.
- Aside from adequate nutrition, we know of no nutrient or supplement that
will a) make the hoof grow faster and stronger; b) cure a curb, spavin,
ringbone, etc.; c) increase conception in mares or libido in stallions; d)
increase intelligence; e) prevent colic; or f) cure heaves, sleeping sickness
and EIA. In short, don't be stampeded into buying magic from a bottle or a can.
- Complicated grain mixes are not necessarily superior to very simple mixes
such as whole oats and pelleted soybean meal.
- Horses with widely different nutrient needs should be fed separately and
fed different rations.
- The quality of the forage is a major determiner of what level of nutrients
should be in the grain ration.
Rules of
TEN
How
to feed the horse—Daily maintenance requirements for a 1100-pound horse.
- 10 pounds TDN
- 10 percent protein
- 10 parts forage:1 part grain
- 10,000 IU vitamin A
- 1/10 as much Vitamin D as A
- Wager 10:1 supplemental B vitamins not needed
- 10 parts of grain:1 part SBM
- Gestating mares should gain 10% in body weight.
- 10:1 pregnant mare's diet is low in phosphorus.
- Feed 10% more energy and 20% more protein the last 100 days of gestation.
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