If you own a horse, you know there are many different opinions there are on feeding horses.

But horse feeding need not be complicated.

If you are looking for in-depth articles about specific horse nutrition questions, I have listed a few websites that I have found helpful below.

Good equine nutrition websites

www.harmanyequine.com
www.thunderbrook.co.uk

The articles on these websites will give you a good basic understanding of horse nutrition.  I do not necessarily agree with every single thing on these websites.

Horse nutrition:  the basics are based on cows

What I’d like to mention is how little we actually know about horse nutrition. Nutrition is a young science. Human nutrition studies only began about 60 years ago.  Horse nutrition ideas have been extrapolated from cow nutrition.  And that’s cows being grain fed for slaughter.

Let me give you an example. A colleague of mine was doing some PhD research on finding out what horses actually like to eat. We’ve assumed sweet feed was high on their list, because who doesn’t like sugar cereal?

But, it was found that horses —given free choice of over 30 grasses, herbs, etc — prefer a bitter taste. At least, we think it tastes bitter. Maybe it tastes different to them. Just a thought.

In addition, horses in the wild will forage on whatever they can find. When their bodies tell them that they are needing something (nutritionally deficient), horses will travel for miles to find a specific weed. Or start eating some bark, or flower, or dirt.   They will actually dig under the dirt to find a mineral. Horses know what they need to eat instinctively (unless sick or debilitated in some way)

Making horse feeding simple

So what should you do? Just make it simpler.  And let the horse help.

Hay

Feed whatever good quality hay you can find. Get it tested if at all possible.  For example,  I know of some grass hays that were tested.  The protein levels should have ranged from 7-12%.  Ideal normal protein is 9%.  These had protein levels from 4% all the way up to 20%.  And there was no way to tell from just looking at the hay.

Alfalfa hay by itself is too high in calcium and is not recommended for horses as a solo feed. Can you add a little bit of alfalfa as a caloric supplement? Sure.  Up to 10% alfalfa is fine.  Do you have to balance it with something low in calcium? Maybe. Hold your horses on that and keep reading. :)

If you can get organic hay, do it.  There are too many pesticides and fertilizers on most feeds.  The vast majority of alfalfa hay is genetically modified and should be avoided for that reason.  GMO feeds cause ulcers in horses.  (For more info about horse ulcers, please see my Report.)

Salt

Be sure your horse has access to salt. Plain salt by itself and NOT in a block. Blocks are made for cows. Cows have very rough, strong tongues for those blocks. Horses do not and may have difficulty getting the right amount. If your horse eats right through those blocks (salt or mineral mix), then he or she is missing some nutrient and is trying to get it.

If you feed a mixture of salt with minerals, horses will only eat that mixture until their body has enough salt. Then their body tells them to stop eating it—even if they didn’t get enough minerals.

ABC’s (Advanced Biological Concepts) Redmond salt mix is good.

Vitamins and Minerals

Lastly, let your horse balance his or her own nutrition by offering free-choice vitamin and mineral supplements. Free-choice means that you offer your horse the minerals, not automatically add them to every feeding. This way your horse can choose whether or not–and which ones—to eat.

If you can, offering free-choice minerals in their naturally occurring groupings is better. So, for example, you would offer calcium & phosphorus together in a separate container. Selenium & vitamin E together, and so on.

As an example, I recommend Advanced Biological Concepts Complete Free-Choice mix for my clients. They have 15 separate free-choices for your horse.

And that’s it.

Good quality hay, salt, vitamins and minerals. That is all an average working horse should need.

What about…hard working horses, skinny horses, fast metabolism horses…can I give them some grain?

This is not the best idea.   Each time you add non-hay feed (any kind!), you change the pH of the gut.

When you change the pH of the gut, you change the microorganisms that live there.  You want as many different microorganisms as you can get, so a variety of grass hays is best.

Do not add legume hays, or alfalfa, rye, or clover.

I’ve had skinny horses gain weight by stopping all grain.   Once the gut becomes balanced again, the horses can digest and absorb their food well.

Do NOT feed these items to horses

Should I feed Rice Bran to my horse?

Rice bran is horribly unbalanced in it’s Calcium:Phosphorus ratio.  Don’t do it.

Normal calcium: phosphorus ratio is 1:1 in the adult horse.  Rice bran ratio is 1:87.   Hugely unbalanced.   This will cause disastrous consequences throughout the body.

Should I feed Beet Pulp to my horse?

Lots of chemicals used to make beet pulp.  Yes, they’re supposedly “washed off”, but you know that pulp is going to absorb plenty of chemicals.  Skip the beet pulp.  It’s not healthy for your horse.

I expect your horse friend or trainer has told you how much weight and beautiful coat their horse got when on beet pulp.  That is because the body gains water weight to dilute the toxic beet pulp.   Then, some of this toxic beet pulp goes out the skin (since the liver is overloaded with it), and this can give a shiny appearance.

Should I feed bagged feeds to my horse?

No.   As mentioned, horses should be fed only hay.  Lot of varieties of grass hay, available 24/7.   Bagged feeds have preservatives, GMO’s, and microplastics.

What would I feed my horse for weight gain?

Just hay.  As much free choice, always available, multiple species of hay as your horse can eat.

It’s tough to find healthy hay sources for your horse. It’s tough for people too! 

Just keep looking, and keep asking for organic grass hays.   If we keep asking, eventually they’ll make it because they want to provide what people are asking for.