- Breeding
- Horse Breeding: Covering a Mare
- Horse Breeding, Part 2: Breeding and Gestation
- Should You Go Into Horse Breeding?
- Buying a Horse
- Do you need insurance for horses?
- Top 3 Ways Using Horse Classifieds Can Save You Money
- When Good Gaits Deteriorate
- General Horse Articles
- Social Media, User Generated Content, and the Equestrian Industry
- The Top 4 Places to Find Horses for Sale
- Help Your Stiff Horse Bend
- Horse Feeding
- 5 Horse Feeding "Don'ts"
- You’ve Got the Right Feed, Now What?: Proper Feeding Practices
- A Look at Horse Feed
- Horse Grooming
- An Overview of Horse Grooming
- eZall Shine & Detangler Transforms Ratty Manes and Tails Into Flowing Tresses
- Keeping Your Horse Beautiful with Horse Products
- Horse Health Issues
- Bucking, Shying and other Attention Deficit Disorders
- How to Care for Your Horse in the Winter
- Horse Dental Problems and Prevention
- Horse Training
- Equestrian Education: Choosing the Right Horse School
- Did you Buy The Right Saddle?
- Training Mythunderstandings: Green Horse Lessons: Adding the Lead Rope
- Horses & History
- Horses in Art: An Abridged History
- A Brief History of Horse Breeding
- The History of Horse Breeding
- Horses & Sports
- How to Prepare for Your First Equestrian Competition
- Halter Horse Show
- In Defense of Horses in Sport
You’ve Got the Right Feed, Now What?: Proper Feeding Practices
05/26/2008
In a horse’s daily diet, quality forage, water, and a good salt or mineral block is all that is needed. If grain and other concentrates are included, then quantities should be carefully monitored, generally by weight.
In a horse’s daily diet, quality forage, water, and a good salt or mineral block is all that is needed. If grain and other concentrates are included, then quantities should be carefully monitored, generally by weight. When trying to decide whether or not concentrates are needed for your horse’s diet, a veterinarian can help tremendously.
Basic #1 – Forage
Your horse will need forage – regularly. Most nutritional experts recommend having it always available for your horse, but this does need to be monitored if it is causing overeating and obesity. If you have a mixture of hay with legumes, then generally a smaller amount should be provided. Some feeds, such as beet pulp, are not as easy, and can be less palatable than others. Thus soaking the feed in water is a recommended practice. This also reduces the risk of choking. Pelleted forms of forage are available, and are designed to be a “complete” nutritional source for your horse. However, a horse needs to graze – both for a good functioning digestive system and for its own natural instincts – so hay should still be provided in addition to pellets.
Basic #2 – Water
To avoid dehydration, horses should never be kept from water for longer than four hours in a day. The general rule of thumb is to have clean, fresh water available at all times for your horse. If a horse has a heavy workout, water should be limited. During the workout, a horse should be allowed to have water periodically. When done, a hot horse should be provided a little water every few minutes as it walks around to cool off – usually 30-90 minutes. After this cooling off process, it is safe to allow the horse to drink as much as it wants. When in hot weather or other situations where dehydration is a concern, it is important to encourage your horse to drink. Dehydration can lead to impacted colic, or even weight loss, as the horse may not feed as much if it cannot produce the necessary saliva.
Combining these two basics with a nice salt or mineral block will ensure a happy, healthy horse for many years to come!
