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Nutrition, Feed and Forage:

Last Modified: January 10, 2002

This guide has been developed for the “Pleasure Horse” Owner, as a guide to better horse care. It is for owners who want to know more about providing horses a healthy, longer life. It has been provided at this location, courtesy of Masterfeeds. A link to the Masterfeeds site is available at the bottom of every page.

Horses are herbivores, live on or prefer plant material, and naturally feed mainly on forages (grass and hay). Proper feeding is critical if your horse is going to attain its potential in appearance, growth, body form, endurance, speed and reproduction capability. Since the nutritional requirements of the horse are derived from two basic sources...roughage and grains, providing a proper balance of these two basic feed components along with proper amounts of minerals and vitamins, is critical to the health, behavior and performance of the horse. A horse with a moderate level of exercise can maintain itself on good pasture or hay, plus minerals and vitamins. Young horses, breeding stock and hard-working horses will require extra energy and protein.

Forages or roughage can either be found in a pasture or provided in the form of hay, grass or cubes. This roughage is initially cut with the incisor teeth, then chewed and mixed with saliva. Upon entering the stomach, the digestive process starts as the feed is mixed and secretions such as hydrochloric acid are added. In the colon, the roughage is digested by the bacteria. A horse has a long colon and therefore requires adequate amounts of roughage for proper digestion. Keep in mind that the stomach is actually quite small and therefore small amounts of food should be provided to the animal on a regular basis. You should plan on feeding the horse at least twice a day to properly spread out the feed intake.

A diet balanced for all nutrients should be provided. A horse can eat up to three percent of its body weight of air-dried feed daily (15kg per 500 kg horse). It will eat less feed if the required energy level is met. The NRC (National Research Council) Nutrient Requirement of Horses is a good and reliable nutrient and ingredient information source. Your Masterfeeds representative can also be very helpful in determining daily feed requirements. How much to feed each horse depends on the weight of the horse, age of the animal and the activity level. To determine the weight you can actually weigh the horse on a scale or use a tape measure and this formula:

weight (1b) = girth x girth (inches) x length (inches) divided by: 241
weight (kg) = girth x girth (cm) x length (cm) divided by: 8,700

The more active a horse is in the daily routine, the higher the energy requirement. Grains are added to the diet to provide an added energy source. Compared to roughage, grains can deliver up to twice the amount of energy. A salt block, provided free choice will ensure the right amount of salt is consumed. Salt is needed to balance salt loss through perspiration, and as a nutrient.

Changes in the feed source, such as switching from oats to com and barley, should be made gradually over 10-14 days to prevent your horse from going off feed. If your horse is overweight, reduce the amount of feed you provide at each feeding. Keep in mind that a stabled horse requires less energy to maintain body weight than a horse that's out on pasture.

Having the proper balance of quality ingredients in the feed to meet the nutrient requirements of each horse is the key to maintaining proper health and performance.

FEED INGREDIENTS AND FEEDS

Knowing the characteristics of feeds is essential to keeping horses healthy and allowing them to perform. A variety of ingredients can he fed to supply the needed nutrients.

Roughage: Roughage in the form of grasses, alfalfa, birdsfoot trefoil or clove make up the major portion of the diet. Roughage quality can be determined to large extent by simply examining the hay to ensure it has a green color rather than a yellow appearance and make certain the hay is free from dust and mole. The horse consumes the cellulose in the hay, converting it to soluble carbohydrates and fatty acids through the digestion process. Legume hay includes alfalfa, birdsfoot trefoil and clover, while grass hays include timothy, orchard grass and bromegrass. Legume hay has higher calcium and possibly phosphorus content than grass hay, as well as vitamin A and B complex. Feeding good quality hay makes the job of balancing the horse's ration much easier, as supplies energy, protein, vitamins and minerals. Keep in mind, poor quality hay is often low in protein. Along with visual assessment, the stage of maturity provides another indicator of hay quality. A representative sample of hay should be tested for dry matter, crude protein, acid detergent fiber (ADF), and an estimate of total digestible nutrients (TDN). Hay should be leafy; mold-free and have a pleasant odor. Horses are very susceptible to moldy feed which, in addition to being less palatable, may cause liver damage, aggravate heaves and bleeders, even abortion and death.

Mature horses at maintenance, fed alfalfa hay, do not need the high protein and calcium and thus end up excreting high levels of calcium and nitrogen. When more urine is produced the smell of ammonia may be high, particularly in poorly ventilated barns, which can cause more respiratory concerns. A mixed hay or grass hay is one feed of choice for the mature maintenance horse.

Alfalfa hay is very useful for the young horse and breeding stock because of the high protein, calcium and vitamins. Birdsfoot trefoil, another legume, is good for horses but may not he quite as palatable and has a finer stem. High quality red clover hay is good, but has a tendency to be dusty and to become moldy more readily. Timothy hay is an excellent feed if cut early enough and handled properly. (A medium protein level: 12% max. and 0.5% calcium). A mixed hay of timothy, bromegrass and alfalfa is quite popular.

A mixture of grass, legumes and minerals provides most nutrients except for the very young horse and the hard-working horse. Ladino and white clover in the pasture mix is also quite popular.

Another alternative source for roughage are hay cubes, which are usually made from high quality alfalfa or blends. Complete feeds such as those available from Masterfeeds (see page 10) also contain "built-in fibre" as part of a balanced, all-in-one nutrition source.

Grains: Grains provide the energy boost needed by the horse. Grain is a more concentrated source of energy than hay, and most common grains may be fed to horses. All grains must be free of dust and mold. Com is a good source of energy, but is low in fibre and protein and susceptible to mold. One of the most popular grains used in feeding horses is oats. The quality of the oats is paramount in the horse's ability to consume and use the energy contained in each kernel. Oats is a safe, bulky grain, higher in fibre and protein, and stores well, but is not as high in energy as com. Horses fed oats are less likely to be overfed. As a result, they are less prone to obesity, digestive upset or founder, a painful foot disease caused by overfeeding, overwork or allergic reactions. Crimping or rolling oats improves the digestible energy by about 5% and this is useful for the very young or the older horse. Barley is a good energy source and fits between com and oats but is easier to overfeed than oats. Crimping or rolling of barley improves this grain significantly. Barley provides more energy than oats but any change in the feeding level of barley can disrupt the feeding pattern and cause the horse to go off feed. Com, beet pulp and bran are also used as energy sources and add bulk to manufactured feeds. Bran is used as a mash by many horse owners and the main benefit is improved water consumption. It also assists in the prevention of implication, but is not much of a laxative. However, if bran is fed with grassy hay at high levels, the calcium-to-phosphorus ratio may become too low since bran is high in phosphorus.

Molasses is added to many grain and feed mixes improve palatability, reduce dust and provide some energy. Adding fat to the diet provides a concentrated energy source and reduces dust. Fat can be added as part of whole oilseeds such as soybeans, or in vegetable oils such as corn oil, canola oil or soya oil, or as blended animal and vegetable fats.

Feeds: Many horse owners find it an advantage to feed a commercially prepared feed, containing the correct balance of protein, energy, fibre, minerals and vitamins to meet the needs of their horse. Commercial feeds often include molasses to provide a binding agent and to increase the palatability and energy level. Manufactured feeds are produced by processing grain and/or feed for your horse by utilizing production processes like grinding, rolling, crimping, crushing, cracking, roasting, popping, extruding, micronizing, pelleting, texturizing and cubing.

A concern of many horse owners is whether whole unprocessed grains are digested efficiently by the horse. Many owners assume that whole grain has not been put to good use but this is most likely only true in an old horse with badly worn teeth or if the chewing is incomplete. The mature horse is quite capable of handling whole grains, particularly whole oats. The young, performance, and old horse will benefit the most from processed feeds, and depending on grain type, digestibility may improve 3% to 6%.

The range of commercial feed types is quite extensive, including Double Re-Cleaned oats, texturized feed, pellets, cubes and extruded feeds. In a later section we will look at each type of feed in more detail.

The above content has been provided by and is copyright ©Masterfeeds.
It may not be reproduced without Masterfeeds written authorization.
Reprinted on this site with the kind permission of Beverley
at the Calgary, Alberta Masterfeeds location.

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