The Basics of Equine Nutrition

In his book “Horseowner and Stableman’s Companion,” written in 1869, author George Armatage mentions horses being fed barley, peas, turnips, potatoes, beans, Indian corn, denominated corn, and linseed.

Boy has equine nutrition changed since then!

Growing up in the 60’s and 70’s, we fed either corn or oats. At some point, I was introduced to pellets and sweet feed. Eventually, feeding a commercial or concentrated feed became the standard in equine nutrition, due to it being both convenient and economical.

Concentrates are high in digestible energy and are usually mixed with a variety of additives or supplements. The energy source comes from either starch, fat, and/or digestible fibers. Nowadays, feed manufacturers tailor their products to meet the different lifestyles of horses, from pleasure, competitive (light, moderate or strenuous), broodmares, young horses, senior horses and horses with metabolic disorders, just to name a few.

Digestible fibers are essential, so most commercial mixes contain some roughage, whether it is beet pulp, oats, barley, wheat, rice, soybeans or sunflowers.

Sweet feeds are pelleted feed to which molasses has been added for binding or flavoring reasons. But keep in mind that sweet feed can spoil in hot climates, and will raise the blood sugar levels in horses. It is also believed that feeding sweet feed in the summer will attract more flies. Compromise with a textured feed, which is a mixture of grains, such as oats and corn with pellets, but with an oil for binding rather than molasses.

It used to be that horsemen were focused on protein levels and believed that a high protein caused a horse to be hot. A 12-14% protein is considered high, typically fed to active horses, with pleasure horses needing 8-10% protein.

Nowadays, research shows that other ingredients contribute in making a horse hot (or lethargic) and fat, starch, fibers and calories should also be taken into account.

Easy keepers and horses doing minimal work require less protein, fewer calories, less fat and have a lower starch requirement, than a broodmare, racehorse or active competition horse.

Horses with metabolic disorders will also have different nutritional requirements, as do different breeds: thoroughbreds will have different nutritional requirements than a welsh pony or draft horse.

Unfortunately, many boarding barns prefer to feed only one type of grain, and will not take into consideration the different requirements of each horse on an individual basis. Once, when enquiring at a potential boarding barn for my draft cross, who suffered from EPSM and had to have a special diet, I was told that he would be just fine eating what they fed everyone else (the phone call ended at that point!) A great boarding facility will offer several types of grain and be open to providing what is deemed medically necessary for a horse.

There are questions one should ask when deciding the daily ration of a horse:

-Does the horse need to gain or lose weight or is the current weight fine? What is his body score? What is the work load: heavy, being let down for winter or getting fit?

-What is his breed and body type? Tall, ribby and lean horses, such as OTTBS, will require more feed than a chunky Quarter Horse.

-What is his temperament? A nervous or high-strung horse will burn off calories much faster than one who is laid back or lazy.

-What is his feeding behavior? If fed in a group setting, picky or slow eaters need to be separated and given time to eat.

-How is his health? Seniors, sick or horses on stall rest need to have their diets adjusted. Horses with metabolic disorders need a special diet.

-How long is the horse stalled for? How much nutrition is he getting from pasture and grazing? Does he have access to hay 24/7?

-Is the horse being fed according to his exercise? A horse in strenuous exercise will need his ration adjusted on days he does not work, but never reduce his hay intake.

-What is the weather? Horses in colder climates require extra calories to help keep warm, especially if not being blanketed. Provide extra calories by feeding more hay.

Feeding an equine is like feeding yourself. A human who eats only junk food will need to eat more often as the sugar high wears off. They will become fat, lethargic, and out of shape, compared to one who eats healthy and limits their sugar intake.

It is unfair and unreasonable to expect a horse to be at its peak performance when he is fed an inferior diet!

What type of diet have you found that works best for your horse?

In other news:

How disappointing that the USHJA Board of Directors decided not to approve the list of banned medications and substances that was created to safe guard the health of competing horses. They chaired the list due to wording. So horses can continue to be administered drugs and substances such as ACTH, adenosine, formaldehyde, pentobarbital and other horrific substances.

If you as a trainer or rider feel the need to stoop so low as to inject your horse with any of these items, then you have lost your way in the horse world and have no business being here.

If you suspect a horse is being abused, text 2USEF

Don’t forget to hug your horse!

Lori