Feeding Faux Pas
How many are you guilty of?
Feeding Grain by Volume and Not Weight
Horse people are infamous for feeding by volume not by weight. This means that when asked how much they feed, most people respond with how many cans or scoops their horse is receiving. It is important to remember that all grain weighs a little differently. For instance, that 3 lb coffee can that many of us feed with (that is actually a 2 lb 7 oz size since the price of coffee went up) doesn’t always hold 3 lbs. of grain. For example, that can actually holds about 3.75 lbs of race horse oats, about 4.25 lbs of many pelleted feeds, and about 3.5 lbs of an average sweet feed. These values do differ though which makes it that much more important to weigh your feed. Remember the average 1000 lb horses’ stomach only holds about 5 lbs. of grain at a time. If an owner feeds much more than this figure or about 1/2% of the horses’ bodyweight in grain per feeding, he is putting that horse at risk for colic and/or founder problems.
Feeding Feeds Not Formulated for Your Horse
If you haven’t read a feed tag lately, you probably don’t know that feed companies have to put a statement of usage on that bag or tag. This statement is usually listed right above the feeding directions. The manufacturer has to state for what type of horse (maintenance, pregnant, growing, etc.) the feed is intended for. The feed tag also lists the feeding directions, as the minimum amounts of that particular product to feed to each age and metabolic state of horse that the feed is intended to meet requirements for.
Many horse owners make one or both of these mistakes. First of all, they are feeding a feed intended for mature horses either idle or in training to pregnant mares, lactating mares or young growing horses. This means they are feeding a deficient diet, maybe not in calories, but most likely in mineral and vitamin levels. Secondly, they don’t follow feeding directions listed on the bag or tag. If the manufacturer tells you to feed a minimum of 5 lbs/day and you only feed 2 lbs/day because your horse gets too fat on 5 lbs, then you need to find a feed meant to be fed at 2 lbs. Essentially you are feeding your horse less than half of the daily recommended levels of vitamins and minerals by feeding less than half of what the manufacturer recommends. This is a common practice when feeding Senior feeds.
Changing Grain Mixes Cold Turkey
Each year many horses are subjected to possible bouts with colic and/or founder when owners indiscriminately switch grain mixtures without gradually acclimating the horse to these changes. When speaking about grain, it is important to understand that grain mixes have many different analysis’ and ingredients. When changing grain mixes it is important to do a couple of things. First of all, weigh your new grain to make sure that you haven’t drastically changed the pounds of grain the horse will be receiving on a daily basis. Secondly, it is a good rule of thumb to do at least a four day changeover when at all possible. This means that on day one you will feed 3/4 of the ration as the old feed and 1/4 of the ration as the new feed. Day two you can mix them half and half, while on day three you feed 3/4 of the new feed and 1/4 of the old feed. Finally on day four you should be able to feed the entire ration as the new feed. This should help eliminate digestive upsets due to differences in calories, fiber and ingredient sources.
Changing Hay Types Cold Turkey
When dealing with hay changes it is also important to do it gradually if possible. The fermentation vat in the horse, known as the cecum, is the organ that digests forage (hay or pasture). This organ contains microbes that are very ph sensitive, meaning changes in acidity can affect the health of the gut population. It takes a different makeup of microbes to digest grass hay as compared with alfalfa hay. The changeover takes approximately 2 weeks, thus ideally if you are changing hays and they are quite a bit different, you should mix new hay with old hay for at least a few days to a week. If you switch too quickly from grass to alfalfa you may get loose stools, some colic issues or worst case scenario a founder situation if the fiber contents were drastically different. When switching from alfalfa to grass too quickly you may see a little bit of a hay belly develop.
Not Acclimating Horses to Lush Spring Pastures
Attention also needs to be given to pasture turnout in the spring. Lush spring pasture is high in fat which is why horses slick off and gain weight so quickly, but it is also very low in fiber content. When horses consume too much low fiber pasture too quickly, the ph of their gut is altered. The ph drops and the gut environment becomes very acidic. The acidity in the gut will start to kill the important microbes that reside there. A signal then goes to the horses’ brain asking for a “fix”. The body’s natural mechanism of defense is to flush the system with water, you observe this as a loose stool. This is a signal that the horse is now at risk for colic and/or founder. Horse owners should slow down on pasture turnout, or make sure they provide dry forage (hay) for the horses so that they can increase the fiber in their gut, therefore increasing the ph again, and ultimately reducing the risk of grass colic or founder.
In Summary
These are only a very few of the many feeding mistakes that we as horse people commonly make. I encourage all of you to educate yourselves through nutrition seminars or by consulting with nutritionists to make sure you are getting the most for your money, and not doing harm to the very horse that you love so dearly.
By: Kelly Ann Graber B.S., P.A.S.
Equine Nutrition Consultant for Progressive Nutrition
To request a seminar or simply ask a question:
Contact me at 888-360-2204 or lkgraber@win-4-u.net
