Some of us (the OGs of the horse world) remember when these items did not exist:
- Beet pulp
- Rice bran
- MSM in everything
- Chia seeds for horses
- Adding oil to horses feed
- Salt blocks for horses
If you’re interested in 5 Common Feeds that make horses sick, this podcast is for you.
Summary:
Summary by AI:
Transcription:
Renee (00:00:00.00)
After treating thousands of horses over 30 years as an equine veterinarian, I’ve seen firsthand how feed can create health problems. Here are the most common feeding mistakes that can actually make your horse sick and what to give him instead. Number one, beet pulp. Beat pulp is a byproduct of the sugar beet industry, not a natural horse feed. It’s often coated with molasses, adding unnecessary sugar, and it can ferment in the gut, disrupting microbiome balance and causing gas or colic. It lacks natural vitamins, minerals, and fiber diversity found in forage, and it contains oxalates, which you may have not heard of, but these can cause stiffness, joint pain, and fatigue. So what to do instead? Replace beet pulp with high quality grass hayes. Feed mixed grass hay or use several varieties of grass hay. No rind, no alfalfa, no clover. When your horse has mixed grass hay, available 24/7, there will be so many happy microorganisms. Your horse will digest food much better. If your horse has been on beet pulp for a long time, you might consider TBT liver revival to help clear out the oxalates. Number two, grains. Corn, oak, and barley are high in starch, which can exacerbate insulin resistance, ulcers, and laminitis.
Renee (00:01:17.16)
By the way, grains are only one horse ulcer issue. You can learn more about why and how ulcers are caused and how to cure them forever in this video. Horses are not designed to digest large amounts of carbohydrates. They thrive on continuous forage. Feeding grain also spikes energy, then crashes it, causing mood swings or hot behavior. Feeding grain also destroys the PH of the gut, killing off needed microorganisms. What to do instead? Use forage-based diets. This does not mean grass pasture. Typical green grass pasture is too rich. Horses need long, dry, fibrous grasses. This type of grass is what the microorganisms thrive on on. The microorganisms in the gut do the actual food digestion. Without them, food digestion slows to a crawl. Focus on slow feeders to mimic natural grazing, and if it all possible, add a track system. Horses are designed to move around much of the day, not stand in a stall. Standing around, even in a big open field, does not help digestion. Number three, rice bran. Rice bran is marketed as a healthy fat source, but rice bran is unstable can go rancid quickly. Stabilized rice bran is stabilized with chemicals which kills off microorganisms.
Renee (00:02:37.22)
Rice bran contains high phosphorus and low calcium, which throws off mineral balance, and often fortified with synthetic additives that strain the liver over time. What to do instead? Just feed hay. Free choice, always available hay. Multiple grass species. No rye, no alfalfa, no clover. Always offer free choice minerals to maintain bone muscle health. If you’re taking your horse off of rice brand, his or her calcium and phosphorus will be unbalanced. I recommend offering a free choice calcium phosphorus product at a one to one ratio. The Dynamite brand works well. Number 4, overgrazing on pasture grass. Many horses live on lush, overfertilized pasture. These pastures are high in non-structural carbohydrates, which are sugars. This can lead to obesity, laminitis, metabolic syndrome, and chronic inflammation. Grass also changes by season, sunlight, and stress, making sugar levels unpredictable. What to do instead? First, I don’t know about you, but I found it difficult at first to believe that horses should not be on grass pastures. I thought 5 to 10 acres of beautiful green grass was the best place for a horse. But unfortunately, that’s not what nature intended. Wild horses eat constantly. They walk about 20 miles per day foraging for dry scrub grasses.
Renee (00:04:00.00)
Horses. Because they eat a lot of variety, their gut has a large variety of microorganisms. Now, you can test your hay if you like. However, if you simply offer as many different types of grass hay as you can find, that’s all you need. I’ve learned these feeding mistakes after 30 years of treating thousands of horses. Nutrition is only one of the hundreds of things I’ve learned. I’ll be sharing the most important things I’ve learned in one of my next videos. Subscribe so you don’t miss it. Number 5, salt in block form. Salt blocks are designed for cows. Horses Roses cannot get enough salt by licking hard blocks. Their tongues aren’t designed for it, so they try to chew it, but their jaws aren’t really designed for that either. Also, salt and mineral blocks have layers of minerals. No, it looks like it’s evenly colored, and we assume that the minerals are evenly distributed. But during the forming process, minerals of different weights settle in different spots. So your horse may be desperate and eat part of a mineral block, but then leave the That’s because he’s eaten the mineral parts that his body needs and he does not need the rest of it.
Renee (00:05:05.04)
Then one can be fooled into thinking the horse doesn’t need any more minerals because he still has part of a block, but he does need them. Not having the correct minerals leads to electrolyte imbalance stress, dehydration, and muscle fatigue, especially in hot climates and working horses. What to do instead? Offer loose plain salt in a separate feeder and offer free choice, loose natural minerals for trace element support. Feeding Getting your horse the right diet is one of the most powerful ways to support their health. But nutrition is only one piece of the puzzle. What I’ve discovered after 30 years as an equine vet is that when the horse’s body isn’t aligned and then the nervous system isn’t functioning properly, even the best feed won’t fix the problem. That’s why I created the Tuckler biokinetic technique. It helps you find and correct the root cause of your horse’s physical and emotional issues, not just manage the symptoms. If you’re ready to go deeper and truly understand your horse’s body, I invite you to learn more about TBT. It’s helped me and my students help thousands of horses, and it can change how you care for yours forever.
Renee (00:06:08.12)
Some of my students are even using TBT to help other animals and have turned it into a business. If you want to join TBT, please check the link in the description. Thanks, and I’ll see you next time.
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