Equine Feeds Explained

 

In a perfect world all the horses on a farm, from foals to broodmares to pasture puffs to horses in heavy work, would be fed the same feed out of the same bag. Unfortunately, the nutritional needs of horses vary tremendously based on life stage and workload. Thus, this makes it difficult to design a “one feed fits all.” With that being said, the basis of any equine diet should be forage. Any concentrate (sweet feed, pellet, or grain) and or fortified feed/supplement should compensate for deficiencies in the forage portion of the diet.

Start with feeding a high, quality grass forage (either grass and/or hay) at a minimum of 2% of body weight and expand from there. Just know that a forage-based diet may meet crude protein requirements, but often be deficient in essential amino acids minerals and vitamins. Furthermore, when working with a hard-working performance horse, a forage only diet can also be deficient in a substantial amount of energy. To simplify things, let’s group the main equine feed options into a few categories and discuss recommended feeding rates, human diet comparisons and good candidates for said feeds (extrapolated from Dr. Rachel Mottet, Legacy Equine Nutrition).

Ration Balancer and/or Forage Balancer

·                 Essentially a daily mineral & vitamin supplement often with added protein and/or essential amino acids
·         Minimum feeding rate: 1-2 lb or a few ounces per day
·         Forage balancers with feeding rates of only a few ounces per day do not contain significant protein and may not provide a complete mineral/vitamin package
·         Human food comparison: Daily vitamin & mineral plus a shot of protein and/or amino acids
·         Good candidates: Easy keeper/overweight horses, horses that thrive on forage alone

Complete Feeds

·                    Entire daily food intake including a forage/fiber buffet
·         Hay built into feed (often senior feeds)
·         Minimum feeding rate: 6+ lb per day
·         Option when quality forage is an issue, but $$$
·         Often lower fortification due to higher feeding rates
·         Human food comparison: Your entire daily food intake plus a salad buffet with balanced vitamins, minerals, protein plus roughage in the diet
·         Good candidates: Seniors, horses with compromised dentition or nutritional absorption issues, horses with limited access to quality forage, or alternative option for performance horses

All Around/Performance Feeds

·                 A feed which provides nutrients and fuel to fill in the gaps & to maintain ideal body condition and performance
·         Minimum feeding rate: 4-8 lb per day
·         Varying levels of fortification, starch & sugars
·         Human food comparison: A diet which provides nutrients and fuel needed to maintain normal body condition and/or athletic performance
·         Good candidates: Horses who need more than grass/hay alone; harder working horses

Today’s horse owners might find horse nutrition complicated, but hopefully this explanation of the most common feed categories helps to simplify things. As identifying the nutrients of most concern, the horse’s stage of production, age and/or activity level is critical in determining which is the most appropriate feed for the given situation.