The Equine Diet
Diet is an essential consideration when raising a happy and health horse. Horses require a special diet to thrive. For a horse to get the most natural diet possible, forage feed is crucial to the horse getting the most natural diet possible. Often, pelleted feed is given to a horse. However, the ideal combination is that the horses feed primarily on forage with the addition of supplements.
Beets can be a good nutritional additive for some equines . Pelleted feed – Examining feed pellets vs. traditional horse food. antioxidant nutrients are to given to the horse .Ideally at least half, preferably all, of a horse’s daily feed should be made up of forage feed. As forage feed is such an important factor in any horse’s diet consideration should always be to quality providing the highest quality forage feed available.
Since horses can consume upwards of thirty or forty pounds of forage feed (grass or hay) per day, they must have constant access to it. Grassy pastures are ideal. However, if there is not sufficent grass horses will need to depend on hay. This is especially important in the winter when they must keep a higher body temperature.
Then there is the feed Bran. Bran is a good laxative for your horse when wet and is easily digested. And chaff is good to add to your horse’s feed to keep him from eating his feed too fast. Then there is Barley. Barley is a very good source of nutrition for your horse, especially in winter times when there isn’t much grass to graze on. However, if the barley has not been rolled and crushed, it should be soaked in water for about two hours before fed to your horse. This is too prevent it from swelling in your horse’s stomach and causing problems.
Then there are Oats. Oats are a very common feed for horses. They are a good source of energy for horses and are easily digested. Then there is Sweet Feed. This is a mixture of feed covered in molasses and is very good for horses. Horses love the taste of the molasses over their feed. Sweet feed usually consists of chopped corn, pellets, and oats.
When should a horse be given these supplements? If you have a mature horse with minimal activity should thrive on good quality forage without a need for supplements. Most horses with a good pasture will benefit from supplemental forage during the winter months. If you feed working horses, stabled horses, and growing or breeding horses, it is a good idea to considered additional feed.
Water should always be available to both the grass kept and stabled horse it is particularly important that it is available prior to feeding. Horses should be fed at regular times and a horse or pony should be given a few hours between having a hard feed and carrying out strenuous exercise. Strenuous exercise on a full stomach can cause breathing problems and also put strain on the heart. A horse or pony should never be fed directly after hard exercise.
Ration balancers (also sometimes called diet balancers) are nutrient dense feeds meant to be fed in small amounts. They are an ideal base to most feed programs. Hopefully this quick look at the types of horse feed available has helped clear up some of the confusion at the feed store. Sweet feeds are feeds that have added sugar to make them more palatable to the horse. Usually the sugar is added in the form of molasses. The high sugar and starch content in these feeds can be the cause of behavioral issues and health problems.

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