Feeding Horses by Jill Aschman (B.Sc.)
Article Outline:
I. Feedstufs: The horse, “Straights” vs premixed, Pre-mixed feeds, Mixing up your own, Chaff, Bran, Grain - the energy feeds, Oats, Barley, Corn, Copra, Pollard, Malt combings, “Powdered” feeds, Oils:, Sunflower seeds, oil, Protein supplements
II. Supplements: Soils, Natural supplementation, Probiotics, Pre-mixed supplements
III.Summary, Further reading, References
I. Feedstuffs
I follow a natural diet as outlined in Victoria Fergusonís book “The Practical Horse Herbal” and Pat Coleby’s book “Natural Horse Care. The rest of my suggestions are from reading text books (listed at the end) and practical experience and can be described as "general knowledge". All horses are individuals and what suits one will not suit another. If your horse has an adverse reaction to a feed, stop feeding it! Ponies and crossbreds will need less feed and supplements. Just to give you an idea, the amounts mentioned here are for "an average 450 kg thoroughbred horse".
The Horse
The horse has evolved to specifically eat large quantities of low quality ìroughageî (grass /hay). In fact, the horse will do well in a paddock full of low quality feed that other species of grazing animal would starve on. You must ensure your horse gets plenty of grass and/or hay. Failure to do this will lead to digestive upsets (possibly leading to death), stomach ulcers and/or psychological problems (leading to "stable vices" such as weaving and wind sucking) for your horse.
“Straights” vs premixed”
“Straights” is the name given to feeds like oats, barley etc that have not been processed into pellets. Horses should digest natural feeds and minerals easier than processed feeds and artificial minerals so it is best (and cheaper!) to feed natural feeds if possible rather than pre-mixed feeds.
However, you might find it more convenient to feed a pre-mixed feed (this will save you time and storage space) and your horse may do very well on them.
Premixed feeds
Find a reputable brand and choose the feed with the correct energy level for your horse. You can tell how much to feed by monitoring your horse's weight. Some horses will get “fizzy” on some brands - just keep trying different ones until you find one that suits your horse. Be aware some pre-mixed feeds are basically just chaff sprayed with molasses and minerals with the odd oat thrown in. I consider these a complete rip-off so only use them if you are really lazy and have lots of money. I have used the following (not in any particular order) and they have all been good (and just because I haven't used it doesn't mean it's not OK): Mitavite Munga, Mitavite Economix, Mitavite Breeda, Hygain Showtorque, Copprice M, Barastock Winner, Leuke Mills Cool Stamina, Nature's Best Balance Plus and lastly Stablemaster Breed n Grow.
A lot of horses will look a million dollars on pre-mixed feeds which is fine ñ but if you have a horse that always has a dull coat or has trouble keeping condition it may not be coping with the artificial additives in pre-mixed feeds and you might want to try mixing up your own.
Mixing up your own
Mixing up your own feeds has several advantages. Firstly, it will work out cheaper. Secondly, pre-mixed feeds use lower quality feeds in order to keep costs down, they then have to add minerals etc to the feed. By mixing your own, you know your horse is getting top quality. Thirdly, you can tailor the feed to the exact needs of your horse. Some horses and ponies are such good doers that they only need a small amount of feed. If you are feeding below the recommended rate of a pre-mixed feed because your horse is a good doer, your horse may not be getting sufficient minerals. Check the labels carefully because some say to feed up to 6 kg per day.
Chaff
I base my feeds on lucerne chaff with an added mineral mix. Lucerne is a high quality feed with moderate energy and protein. It gives the horses something “green” to eat in dry conditions. I donít bother with oaten chaff or bran, which are much lower quality feeds than lucerne. You can use oaten chaff to bulk out the feed if you wish, but I donít like to do this. The horse only has a small stomach so you should be feeding a small meal. If you feed your horse an enormous feed, you run the risk of pushing partially digested food through the digestive tract quicker than it is meant to. At the least this will mean the horse is not getting all the goodness out of the feed, at worst you might give your horse a digestive upset or colic. However, you may wish to feed oaten chaff in the following circumstances: to cut the green feed intake of the horse on lush pasture, to increase feed bulk on a sand/dirt pasture, or your horse is "intolerant" to lucerne (sends him silly or gives him the runs) or when feeding a fat pony or crossbred horse and you want to feed a low energy/protein feed. Dampen down your chaff if it is dusty. An alternative to oaten chaff is a product called "Sweet bulk" which is made from oat hulls.
Bran
Bran is used to bulk out the feed and has only moderate energy and protein. I can’t really see the point, unless you can’t get anything else. It just takes up another feed bin in your shed and there are lots of better quality feeds around. I can see a use if you have millions of horses to feed though as I guess it works out quite cheap. It is low in calcium so you might need a calcium supplement.
Grain - the energy feeds
Lucerne alone may not be high enough in energy for a horse in work, especially a thoroughbred, and you will need to add one or more of the following "high energy" feeds.
Oats
Add oats if your horse needs to put on muscle bulk. Oats are high in phosphorus. Sometimes you will see oat husks in the manure. This isn’t anything to worry about, it is just the indigestible oat husk not the inside bit where all the goodness is. If you are worried you can soak the oats in water overnight before feeding to soften the husk. Oats should not fizz up your horse unless fed to excess. However you get the odd horse that goes silly on even one oat grain so barley might be the answer here.
Barley
Add barley if your horse needs to put on condition or if it goes silly on oats. The barley husk is tougher than oat husk so you WILL need to soak barley overnight before feeding. Barley is also slightly higher in energy than oats so you feed less. Use micronised barley if you can't be bothered soaking it (Hygain make it).
Corn
So what about corn you say? Corn is higher in energy than oats and barley so is not necessary unless the horse is in hard work. By hard work I am talking about endurance/polocrosse etc. One hour a day is NOT hard work for a horse. I don't like to feed corn because it has to be "cracked" (squashed) first in order for the horse to digest properly. Corn has to be fed soon after it has been cracked or it loses its goodness, so if you only have one horse your bag will go off before you finish it. Corn can also become infected with a fungus which will make your horse sick. If you want to feed corn, the safest way to feed it is by buying it already processed so it won't "go off", you can buy either micronised corn (from Hygain) or extruded corn (Mitavite Turbo Gold).
Copra
Another good feed is Copra. This is coconut meal, it is high in energy and protein and is excellent value for money. It is so high in protein (22%) it is suitable for breeding stock but is low in calcium so you will need a calcium supplement. If you want to feed it to young growing horses you should be aware it’s a bit low in lysine, an amino acid (protein) required. You will need a lysine supplement if you are feeding young growing horses exclusively on Copra (1.). Lucerne is a good source of lysine and will supply the needs of adult horses without further supplementation. The manufacturers of Copra say it can be fed wet or dry, but after watching the huge amount of water it soaks up I would be reluctant to feed it dry, you run the risk of an impaction colic. Try Copra instead of oats/barley if you horse goes silly on grain. You might feel Copra is too high in protein for your horse, this will depend how much you feed - Check the label. Copra is 22% protein and an adult horse needs between 8-12% protein in his diet. It might balance out if the rest of your horse’s feed is low in protein.
Pollard
I will mention pollard, but it is not really a high quality feed. Pollard is reject flour. You can also get rice pollard which is higher in fat/protien than normal pollard. Pollard tends to put fat on your horse. Make sure you dampen thoroughly. If you feed it dry it will swell up in the horse’s gut and may cause a blockage = impaction colic. Don’t feed more than 500g - 1kg per day and mix it in with other feeds. It is cheap but may not be worth the risk.
Malt combings
I think I have only ever found ONE horse feed book that mentioned them. What are they? Malt combings are a by-product of the beer making process. They are the dried barley sprouts, and are very high in energy/protein. If you have a brewery in your town you can enquire if they sell malt combings. Our local brewery sells a normal feed bag size for six dollars (6.60 now thank you John Howard), what a bargain! They are not available all the time, only when the brewery is, well, brewing. They swell up a lot when wet so you need to feed them damp. Dampen? They absorb an incredible amount of water - you have to thoroughly wet them so they turn into a porridge so 5 mins later they are not dry again. However you must dampen them down immediately before feeding as they ferment very quickly. A wet bucket of malt combings left in the sun can be merrily bubbling away in 60 minutes. They are widely used here in Hobart. I would perhaps treat them as a “pollard” (they are probably not as harmful as a pollard) and not feed more than 1/2 - 1kg per day mixed with other feeds to reduce the risk of an impaction colic. The one feed book I found that mentioned them said they might swab so you might not want to use them if you are competing officially.
Only feed one powdered feed at a time
Powdered feeds that you have to dampen before feeding eg pollard, rice pollard, malt combings, copra expand a lot when wet. In order to minimise the risk of impaction colic, feed only ONE of these feeds.
Oils
Sunflower seeds
Another good addition to the feed is half a cup of black sunflower seeds. These will supply oils and proteins to keep your horseís coat beautiful.
Oil
If your horse goes silly on grain you can feed oil instead of grain. Don't feed more than 1 cup per day. Oils such as sunflower, safflower, olive or canola are better quality than just blended oil. It is a good idea to swap which sort you buy each time because each oil has a slightly different make-up so swapping will give your horse the widest range of nutrients. You can probably leave out the sunflower seeds if you are feeding oil. You can use oil as a coat conditioner instead of (or as well as ) sunflower seeds: 1 tbs per day.If you don't want to feed liquid oil you can buy a product called Equivit Equi-jewel which is a high-oil meal. I haven't used it but it looks ok, but more expensive than oil.
Protein supplements
Adult horses only need 8-12% protein. An adult horse will get plenty of protein from its other feeds (lucerne, oats, sunflower seeds etc). However, if your horse is not looking as fantastic as you would like, and he gets plenty of energy feeds you might try giving him a little extra protein or oil to see if that helps. There is no point feeding to excess, it will just "go through" them.
You will need to give a protein supplement to young growing horses and breeding stock. The "highest quality" protein supplement is soybean meal. But why? Soybean meal has the highest amount of lysine of all protein supplements. Lysine is the "limiting factor" for growth/muscle development. If you haven't got enough lysine, it won't matter how much of everything else you have - growth rates will depend on the amount of lysine available (2). Feed soyabean meal at a rate of 1 cup per day for growing horses. There are other protein supplements you can feed if you can’t get soybean meal such as: linseed meal, cottonseed meal, sunflower meal/seeds, tickbeans, peas, lupins. Just see what you can get in your area and compare prices. Just getting off the subject for a moment, please be aware that feeding too much grain (energy) to young horses can lead to developmental diseases. Proper feeding of breeding stock will lead to improved fertility, make the birth easier and ensure live, healthy foals. This is a specialist area and I strongly recommend you read a book on feeding breeding stock if you have them.
II. Supplements
Soils grow pasture and crops
Most books will say that horses fed good quality feeds will not need mineral supplementation. This is true, but you have to define "good quality feeds". Australian soils are deficient in many minerals. The rocks (which break down into soils) are geologically old (ancient in fact - some of the oldest rocks in the world). Over millions of years, water passing through the rocks and soil have washed away many minerals. So any "unimproved" (native) pasture will be mineral “deficient”. As for "improved" pasture, here you have to take into account the “Super phosphate” factor. Super phosphate is a widely (and heavily) used artificial fertiliser. Any old farm pastures will have had large amounts of “Super” applied in the past. Super tends to stay in the soil for long periods of time, so there can be high build-ups of Super even in older pastures. The problem is, is that high quantities of Super prevents plants uptaking other minerals such as copper when they grow. The plants are so swamped in Super that the mechanisms in the plantís roots to uptake other minerals donít work. The outcome is is that these plants, whether they are pasture or crops such as lucerne, oats, barley etc will be deficient in many minerals. Mineral supplementation should not be necessary on pastures that have had their mineral profile tested and corrected to undo the damage, and organic fertilisers have subsequently been used.
Natural supplementation
Luckily there are some brilliant cheap products available. Dampen down your feeds so the supplements stick to the feed making it harder for your horse to sift them aside. You should do this anyway as many feeds are a bit dusty and can irritate your horse's airway. High grade dolomite should be used to supplement calcium and magnesium to all horses at the rate of 1tbsp per feed or free choice. Dolomite naturally has the Calcium/Magnesium balanced to the correct ratio. Feed seaweed meal to get the remaining minerals in an easily digested organic form, at the rate of 1 dssrt sp per day or free choice. You can also get seaweed in liquid form (eg Nutrimol) - read the directions to get the amount you should be using. Garlic powder is high in sulphur and copper as well as other things, you can give them a tbs per day. Garlic will also ward off insects and parasites and boost the immune system protecting your horse from viruses. Apple cider vinegar (unpasturised) is high in potassium, give 20-40 ml per day. Make salt available to the horse in free-choice form, use natural rock salt. Don't add it to the feed as you may give your horse too much. I don't feed molasses as it makes your horse's blood taste sweet which may attract biting insects. As I am in a Ross River Virus area I feel it is not worth the risk (This virus is spread by mosquitos and can give your horse (or you!) permanent muscle damage as well as making him sick for months).
Optional: Rosehips give copper
If your horse has a yukky or bleached coat have a look at the tips of the hairs. If the tips are bent into a hook, the horse is probably copper deficient, this can be given safely in the form of rosehips, 1 tbs per day or make into a tea for extra potentcy (don’t strain the tea).
Probiotics
If your horse has trouble keeping on weight, a course of a probiotic migh be worth a try. Probiotics supply GOOD bacteria to improve the horse's digestion. Try adding a couple of tablespoons of yoghurt. I am also a fan of a probiotic called Protexin. If your horse is prone to stomach upsets, use a probiotic whenever you change a feed or if the horse gets stressed (eg travelling) or sick.
Premixed supplements
Phew! Now, having said all that, you might not be keen on mixing all this stuff up and you want to add a pre-mixed supplement to your lucerne/oats. I have used Groom and Livamol and they were both good. These two products contain protein/oil supplements as well as vitamins and minerals so you won't need to feed additional sunflower seeds or oil in order to get a shiny coat. Lots of people I know use "Stockgain" with good results. I have also had "Feramo" recommended to me as a good supplement. Another product that looks good (but I have never used) is Equivit "Gold Pellet". It is a vitamin/mineral supplement with extra protein AND a probiotic. Might be good if you can't be bothered mixing a lot of things together and you want to add extra protein. If you use one of these pre-mixes and your horse is not doing well (give them a couple of months to work) your horse might not be digesting it properly and you should try feeding natural supplements instead.
III. Summary
Feed per 450kg thoroughbred horse per day. Dampen down the feed.
lucerne chaff (and/or oaten chaff and/or bran)
optional: oats and/or soaked barley and/or dampened copra
1/2 cup black sunflower seeds
1 tbs dolomite (or free choice) (from feed suppliers)
1 dssrt sp seaweed meal (or free choice) (from feed suppliers)
1 tbs garlic powder or granules (Kingston Equestrian Supplies has it, so do health food shops)
1 tbs unpasturised apple cider vinegar (from Animal Tuckerbox or Kingston Equestrian Supplies)
optional: 1 tbs rosehip granules (from health food shops)
Free choice natural rock salt (from feed suppliers)
Alternative for time-challenged people:
Add a pre-mixed supplement (see above) to your chaff/grain/sunflower seeds. This will work out A LOT cheaper than buying a "pre-mixed" feed.
Further Reading: I highly recommend the following books. Your local library might have copies
Feeding and Nutrition of Horses by John Kohnke published by Vetsearch International
Horse Feeding Simplified by Robert Kerrigan ISBN 1875381007
Horsekeeping: A sane approach to the care & management of horses by Eva Berriman ISBN 0646098918
Natural Horse Care by Pat Coleby ISBN 0947065091
The Nature of Horses: Exploring Equine Evolution, Intelligence and Behaviour by Stephen Budiansky ISBN 0753801124
The Practical Horse Herbal by Victoria Ferguson ISBN 0646406159
Practical Horse Nutrition by Robert Kerrigan ISBN 1862523274
References:
1. O’Brien, C (2000) Copra meal and growing performance horses VG 305 (a search of the internet will find this Acrobat download)
2. Stewart, JH (2001) Feeding the orphaned foal Mitavite News Bulletin