Your Horses" Feed - Eliminate the Guesswork and Save Money
Do you use guesswork to decide what and how much to feed your horse? Do you believe it's too hard to modify your horses' feed as their workload changes or as the seasons change? For many of the ten years that I've been managing the feed for the horses we breed and train, I had been doing just this.
The horses seemed healthy and in good condition.
Little did I know how much money I was wasting by feeding the horses too much of the wrong stuff! For just one of our horses I was feeding 20% more energy and 30% more protein than he needed! As he was an Australian Stock Horse Stallion, he wasn't getting fat.
Instead he 'sweated up' easily and he always seemed hyperactive.
We just put this down to him being a stallion.
What could we have saved? Annually this 20% represented more than $200, for just one horse! The purpose of this article is to, for those of you who are also relying on guesswork when putting together your horses' feed, open your eyes to how easy it is to calculate the right diet for your horse.
You need to know this before even thinking about going in to the local horse feed store to choose a commercial feed from the huge range that is on offer.
Before we get into the details of calculating what to feed your horse there are a few points you need to understand about horses in general.
1) Horses have been designed by nature as grazing animals.
While grazing they may also eat some grass seed (grain), but this wasn't meant to make up a large part of their diet.
So, if possible, always try to make up as much of your horses' feed from good quality pasture and hay.
2) A horses' digestive system can process only a limited amount of feed per day.
This includes pasture, hay, and any feed mixes ('hard feed') you provide.
The general rule is that total weight of feed eaten should be between 1.
5% and 2% of the horses' bodyweight (e.
g.
500kg horse = 10kg total feed per day).
3) The amount of feed a horse needs is dependent on three main factors.
These are the weight of your horse, how much work they do, and the weather.
This last factor assumes your horse is kept in an open paddock or field (i.
e.
not kept in a stable).
This also assumes your horse is already in good condition (body, teeth, worming, etc), and is in good health.
In general, the bigger they are, the more work they do, and the colder the weather, the more energy they will need - but still within the limits mentioned in point (2).
What are the basic guidelines for working out what to feed your horse? Your horses' overall diet must contain balanced amounts of; 1) Digestible Energy (from carbohydrates, sugars, and fats); 2) Protein; 3) Crude Fibre; and, 4) Vitamins and Minerals.
To quickly estimate the correct amounts for your horse, use the following.
References to BW refer to your horses' bodyweight.
1) Resting Horse (no work): 15MJ DE (energy) per 100kg BW, 150g Protein per 100kg BW, minimum of 1% BW in crude fibre, between 1.
5% and 1.
75% BW total feed weight (including pasture).
2) Horse in Light Work (20-30 min per day): 18MJ DE (energy) per 100kg BW, 180g Protein per 100kg BW, minimum of 1% BW in crude fibre, approximately 2% BW total feed weight (including pasture).
Vitamins and minerals have not been included as this is a complex area that deserves its own article.
Worry about getting the first three right and then deal with vitamins and minerals later.
Given the above information, what you now need to do is work out the right balance of feed that provides the correct levels of energy, protein, and crude fibre, while staying under the maximum consumption weight.
Generally the steps are; 1) Work out how much pasture your horse eats and the energy and protein value of this pasture.
This is determined by how long they are in the paddock/field and the quality of the grass.
If you live in areas where the temperature drops down to 5 to 12 degrees Celsius, in the Winter, the energy value of pasture is at least 15% lower than during mid to late Spring.
2) Calculate the remaining amounts your horse needs and decide whether this can be made entirely from good quality hay.
3) If your horse still needs more Energy and Protein, you now need to go looking for commercial feed mixes that meet the remaining requirements of your horse.
You may think that all of this appears to be a complicated balancing act.
This is probably why a lot of us avoid accurately calculating our horses' feed.
However, there are now some good feed calculators, available on the Internet, that makes this all very simple.
It's easier if you use a calculator that takes a holistic approach by including the pasture and hay available to your horse, and provides generic advice that is not linked to a particular feed manufacturer.
If it includes pictures of pasture types, and already includes the energy and protein values of the feed brands available to you at your local horse feed supplier, you'll save a lot of time.
You now know the basics of what your horse needs.
There are numerous tools online that will help you calculate the exact amounts required.
Make use of them today, eliminate the guesswork, and save money at the same time!
The horses seemed healthy and in good condition.
Little did I know how much money I was wasting by feeding the horses too much of the wrong stuff! For just one of our horses I was feeding 20% more energy and 30% more protein than he needed! As he was an Australian Stock Horse Stallion, he wasn't getting fat.
Instead he 'sweated up' easily and he always seemed hyperactive.
We just put this down to him being a stallion.
What could we have saved? Annually this 20% represented more than $200, for just one horse! The purpose of this article is to, for those of you who are also relying on guesswork when putting together your horses' feed, open your eyes to how easy it is to calculate the right diet for your horse.
You need to know this before even thinking about going in to the local horse feed store to choose a commercial feed from the huge range that is on offer.
Before we get into the details of calculating what to feed your horse there are a few points you need to understand about horses in general.
1) Horses have been designed by nature as grazing animals.
While grazing they may also eat some grass seed (grain), but this wasn't meant to make up a large part of their diet.
So, if possible, always try to make up as much of your horses' feed from good quality pasture and hay.
2) A horses' digestive system can process only a limited amount of feed per day.
This includes pasture, hay, and any feed mixes ('hard feed') you provide.
The general rule is that total weight of feed eaten should be between 1.
5% and 2% of the horses' bodyweight (e.
g.
500kg horse = 10kg total feed per day).
3) The amount of feed a horse needs is dependent on three main factors.
These are the weight of your horse, how much work they do, and the weather.
This last factor assumes your horse is kept in an open paddock or field (i.
e.
not kept in a stable).
This also assumes your horse is already in good condition (body, teeth, worming, etc), and is in good health.
In general, the bigger they are, the more work they do, and the colder the weather, the more energy they will need - but still within the limits mentioned in point (2).
What are the basic guidelines for working out what to feed your horse? Your horses' overall diet must contain balanced amounts of; 1) Digestible Energy (from carbohydrates, sugars, and fats); 2) Protein; 3) Crude Fibre; and, 4) Vitamins and Minerals.
To quickly estimate the correct amounts for your horse, use the following.
References to BW refer to your horses' bodyweight.
1) Resting Horse (no work): 15MJ DE (energy) per 100kg BW, 150g Protein per 100kg BW, minimum of 1% BW in crude fibre, between 1.
5% and 1.
75% BW total feed weight (including pasture).
2) Horse in Light Work (20-30 min per day): 18MJ DE (energy) per 100kg BW, 180g Protein per 100kg BW, minimum of 1% BW in crude fibre, approximately 2% BW total feed weight (including pasture).
Vitamins and minerals have not been included as this is a complex area that deserves its own article.
Worry about getting the first three right and then deal with vitamins and minerals later.
Given the above information, what you now need to do is work out the right balance of feed that provides the correct levels of energy, protein, and crude fibre, while staying under the maximum consumption weight.
Generally the steps are; 1) Work out how much pasture your horse eats and the energy and protein value of this pasture.
This is determined by how long they are in the paddock/field and the quality of the grass.
If you live in areas where the temperature drops down to 5 to 12 degrees Celsius, in the Winter, the energy value of pasture is at least 15% lower than during mid to late Spring.
2) Calculate the remaining amounts your horse needs and decide whether this can be made entirely from good quality hay.
3) If your horse still needs more Energy and Protein, you now need to go looking for commercial feed mixes that meet the remaining requirements of your horse.
You may think that all of this appears to be a complicated balancing act.
This is probably why a lot of us avoid accurately calculating our horses' feed.
However, there are now some good feed calculators, available on the Internet, that makes this all very simple.
It's easier if you use a calculator that takes a holistic approach by including the pasture and hay available to your horse, and provides generic advice that is not linked to a particular feed manufacturer.
If it includes pictures of pasture types, and already includes the energy and protein values of the feed brands available to you at your local horse feed supplier, you'll save a lot of time.
You now know the basics of what your horse needs.
There are numerous tools online that will help you calculate the exact amounts required.
Make use of them today, eliminate the guesswork, and save money at the same time!
Source...