Posts Tagged ‘feed bags’

A good sound knowledge in horse feeding is important for any horse owner. Even if your horse is stabled and fed by the staff at a yard, you ought to have a basic understanding of horse nutrition. A healthy horse fed a proper diet is a horse that will have the balanced energy to suit you.

If your horse is lacking in energy he may seem lazy to you, but have you looked at his diet? Are you feeding him enough of the right food? A diet consisting mainly of hay or grass is good for a horse living out in a pasture. Of course if that same horse is exercised on a regular basis that hay should be of high quality, good protein, and no doubt he would be having a grain too.

Besides low energy, a horse on an incorrect diet would lose weight, or gain too much weight. Both can lead to health concerns and problems, which usually would result in a veterinary visit and fee.

Feeding a horse more than hay obviously costs more, but you truly save on money in the long run. Horses that are worked need more than hay to replenish lost calories, to maintain his health and to repair the body. No different than humans who are not simply couch potatoes.

Pleasure horses that are ridden infrequently still benefit from grain. You can purchase grain or pellets that are best suited to your horses needs. Today feed bags have several labels which tell you the type of food and ingredients. Foods have been specifically developed for broodmares, senior and junior horses just to mention a few.

Knowledgeable staff at a yard and your veterinarian can further assist you in choosing the correct diet. You want a content, happy horse, but perhaps not a highly strung, spirited race horse between your legs…

Depending on your horse’s lifestyle, whether a competition horse, a companion horse or a pleasure horse there is a diet to match. Diets help you get the best performance from your horse. Supplements may or may not be necessary, if you are competing in a showing class on a regular basis, your horse may very well benefit from a supplement that adds benefits to his coat.

Feeding truly makes a difference to horses from birth up. You want a good healthy happy horse, read up on horse nutrition and find the correct diet.

Horses. Get information on buying, owning and caring for your horse, learn about Feeding Your Horse. Learn about your horses anatomy.

Author: Benjamin Wise
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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Horses were born to eat grass, it is their natural food. The supplemental feeding of grain was created by man in order to keep weight on horses as they were being used for beasts of burden. Horses pulling caravans across this vast country did not have time to graze, so man had to supplement their need for food. This is probably when feed bags were invented. As man settled and began to farm, horses were necessary for plowing and traveling long distances either for supplies or for herding cattle; again demonstrating the need for grain.

Horses can survive on grass alone. The need to give them grain will depend on the age of the horse, what kind of activity the horse is performing on a daily basis, the amount of pasture that is available for the individual and the quality of the pasture. Young horses that are weanlings (babies just weaned from their mother) and yearlings are growing at a fast pace. Actually any horse under the age of five for most breeds is still growing. If you want a horse that is strong and will grow to their full potential, giving them grain is the right thing to do. Horses that are being ridden often or on a daily basis should have grain. Now if your horse is in a pasture that has a lot of weeds or the grass stays short because there are too many horses in one pasture, then you may also want to supplement them with hay as well as grain. Another factor that comes into play is the breed of the horse. Certain breeds will need only a small amount of feed, others such as Thoroughbreds, need much more grain to accomplish the development of a healthy, strong animal.

Being a horse owner means that you must monitor your horses weight and condition constantly, whether they are in a stall or in a pasture. If you have a horse or pony that is an aggressive eater and is becoming too fat or even obese, when you are graining the other horses in the pasture, you will have to put that horse in a catch pen, usually built into a corner of a pasture, with no grain until the other horses are finished eating. Remember, if you are giving grain to pasture horses, the amount that you feed will be much less than that of winter time. Lets’ say you turn your horses out during the day in the winter. They will just forage around and pick a little on old dead grass that has little to offer as opposed to gorging themselves all day long and even during the nighttime. Horses can suffer from a severe condition called laminitis (founder) when they are carrying too much weight and producing too much heat in their bodies, and the heat travels to their feet. This condition is not only very painful for the horse but it is a permanent condition. They become more sensitive, can re-founder, will need extra care and specialized shoeing, and it can even cause them to loose their life if they are not removed from the environment that originally caused them to founder.

Horses have been around for millions of years and they survived without grain. The decision is yours and if you have horses in a rich pasture and they are not being ridden often and they have a healthy weight on them, then grain probably is not necessary. As long as your horse has a plentiful supply of rich grass, plenty of fresh water, trees or woods or a lean-to structure for protection, and you have them on a regimented worming program (will be discussed at a later date), life will be good for them without grain. Even though they seem to be self sufficient, horses always need to have a watchful eye on them at least once a day. It is necessary to check their water and clean the waterer or tubs often. Make sure all the horses seem happy, and are following their usual daily habits. You must also check them thoroughly making sure there are no serious cuts, wounds, or kick marks, and check their eyes for injuries or signs of illness or allergies.

Beverly Jansen
http://bevshorseadvice.com
I’m a licensed Thoroughbred Horse Trainer and a licensed Equine Message Therapist. I have devoted my entire life to horses and have over 40 years experience to share. My blog site was created to share my knowledge and will soon offer exceptional, all natural horse products that are above and beyond any other products in comparison and will guarantee fantastic results. I will also be posting “How To” videos on my youtube channel soon.

Author: Beverly Jansen
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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Due to the number of questions and concerns I field from horse owners unable to maintain weight on the horses I’ve written the following to explain feeding guidelines found on feed bags. Also, how to determine what amount your particular horse needs.

Typical Guidelines call for:

Recommended feeding amount is to 1 pound of feed per 100 pound bodyweight.

Feeding amounts may be adjusted slightly to meet the needs of the horse.

Feeding amounts should be split into 2 or more feedings per day.

I.e. a 900 pound horse would need to be fed 4 to 9 pounds per day.

Now comes the tricky part

I know you’ve all probably heard the terms “easy keeper” and “hard keeper”. What that boils down to is the metabolism and energy level of that particular horse. You also have to factor in the size of your horse. A taller horse will weigh more than a shorter or smaller horse. If you have a low energy low metabolism horse you’d go toward the low end. If you have high energy high metabolism horse you’d go toward the high end. The average person is not good at guessing the weight of their horse nor the proper weight their horse should be.

The best judge of your horse is you. If your horse is getting to heavy or losing weight look at the nutritional needs of your horse and see if they are within the guidelines. Use a body scoring chart to see if your horse is within optimum weight range.

I’ve had people with a small, average and large horse ask me why one is doing well, one is doing okay and one is losing weight. When I ask what they are feeding they answer “one scoop”. Here lies the problem.

Different feed weighs different amounts. Also, some people fill the scoop to different levels. You should scoop out your feed and weigh it. Find out exactly what you have been feeding. Then compare that to the guidelines.

In the example above an 800 pound horse, a 1000 pound horse and a 1200 pound horse were being fed 6 pounds of feed daily. It was the appropriate amount for the smaller horse but way to low for the others. The 1200 pound horse guidelines call for 6 to 12 pounds per day. I recommend splitting the difference and seeing how the horse does then increase or decrease according to body condition. If your horse is underweight go to the high end. Just remember, do it gradually and increase their feed no more than 1 pound per meal.

Quick Reference Table Chart

Horses weight _____________Feed bag rec________________Amount to feed horse

800………………………………………… 4-8 pounds daily ……………………………………6 pounds per day

1000…………………………………….. 5-10 pounds daily…………………………………7-8 pounds per day

1200………………………………………6-12 pounds daily………………………………….. 9 pounds per day

This is based on an average horse. If your horse is high energy you go to the high side, low energy to the low side average you fall in the middle. Start out with the mid range and adjust accordingly.

Feeding Need To Knows

• An average horse can not utilize more than 5 pounds of feed at one meal. Anything more they are basically just pooping out without being able to utilize the nutrients. This is why feeding horses must be broken down into 2 or more feedings per day.
• In order to achieve the nutrient value on a bag of feed the horse has to consume the pounds required for their size and metabolism or their nutrients are falling short.
• Do not increase a horses feed ration more than 1 pound per meal over a course of a week..
• Do not change a horses feed without mixing it with the new feed for at least 7 to 10 days. Feed changes must be made gradually.
• Do not feed less hay than feed. If a horse is getting 6 pounds of feed they need a minimum of 6 pounds of hay.
• Typically, the average horse should consume 1 bag of feed and 2 bales of hay a week.

Conclusion

The best judge of your horse is you. Feed your horse according to their needs. Stop being of the “scoop” mind and get “pound” wise. Listen to your horse, they can tell you a lot. Don’t be afraid to ask questions from someone. If your horse doesn’t appear to be doing well to you they probably are not. Get in the habit of observing horses body condition. Rate horses based on a body condition scoring guide. Rate your horse and other horses. Get to know your horse and your horses individual needs.

Horses do not fit into a nice tidy package. They are as different as us in their nutritional needs. Obviously a 5 foot tall person is not going to have to eat as much as a 6 foot tall person to maintain their optimum weight. So goes it with horses. Also, we’ve all met that person with the high metabolism that seems to be able to eat anything they want and they stay skinny or the person that watches everything they eat and still gains weight. Again, so goes it with horses.

Author: Melody Baum
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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Here’s a quick test. Ready?

* Does your horse sometimes seem sluggish, gain or lose weight easily, or lose muscle over his top line but maintain a cresty neck?

* Does he stock up easily or sometimes seem prone to hoof soreness or abscesses?

If your horse displays any of these symptoms he could be insulin resistant (IR), a condition that has recently come to the attention of many professionals and owners in the horse industry.

Insulin is produced by your horse’s pancreas and is needed to move glucose out of the blood and into the cells where it can be used for energy. Some horses are genetically predisposed to develop a condition where their cells do not respond properly to insulin so glucose metabolism is impaired. However, not all horses that have this predisposition will develop insulin resistance. Triggers that can case this condition to manifest include high-carbohydrate or high-fat diets, mineral deficiencies, lack of exercise, obesity, and stress. Let’s look at each of these factors.

High-Carbohydrate Diets

Carbohydrate levels in feeds are best evaluated by looking at the non-structural carbohydrate (NSC) levels. Unfortunately, these levels are not listed on most feed bags but they can be obtained for most grains and hays at http://www.equi-analytical.com/. Some experts feel that a horse with IR should have a total diet that is less than 10% NSC. However, this low percentage is difficult to achieve as few feeds or hays have less than 11% NSC and they must be soaked to leach out the sugars to get levels this low. I feel most performance horses that are not showing serious symptoms, such as laminitis, and are still being worked regularly can handle NSC levels between 10% and 15%.

High-Fat Diets

IR horses vary greatly in the amount of fat they can handle. In general the longer the condition has been active the less fat the horse can metabolize. Long standing IR will cause damage to the horse’s liver as the body tries to store the extra circulating glucose in the liver. This causes a fatty liver syndrome and the liver will swell, which blocks the bile ducts. Bile is needed for fat digestion and if flow of bile into the small intestine is blocked, fat will not be digested. In addition, the presence of fat will interfere with the digestion and assimilation of other important nutrients. I often suggest the herb milk thistle be given to horses that have IR because it has a protective effect on the liver. It also contains certain minerals, such as selenium, which help some horses cope with the muscle soreness that can occur with IR. I suggest one tablespoon daily of freshly-ground milk thistle seeds.

Mineral Deficiencies or Imbalances

Many minerals are important for carbohydrate metabolism, including but not limited to magnesium, chromium, manganese, and zinc. Mineral imbalances can also cause relative deficiencies if too much of one mineral interferes with the absorption of another. For example, magnesium and calcium use the same pathway for absorption so an excess of calcium can cause a deficiency of magnesium, even if the minimum requirement for magnesium in the diet is being met. The only way to definitely determine the mineral levels in your horse’s diet is to test all of your horse’s feed and hay. While this can be difficult it is worth the effort if your horse might be insulin-resistant. The website http://www.equi-analytical.com will give you the information you need to send in the correct samples. For horses that are not showing serious symptoms I prefer to look at the typical levels of nutrients in regional hay and feed samples; make sure the diet is balanced for macro minerals like calcium, phosphorus, and magnesium; and then use a food source that contains easily assimilated minerals, like blue-green algae, as a supplement to provide the micro minerals.

Lack of Exercise

Lack of exercise can affect the horse in several ways. First, it creates stress in many horses. Second, it contributes to obesity. Most diets designed for performance horses are based on keeping the horse at the correct weight when he is in work. As soon as the horse goes off work, either because of an injury or bad weather, he will start gaining weight if his feed is not cut. Third, exercise increases the cells sensitivity to insulin, even in IR horses. This is why we are able to give feeds with slightly higher NSC levels to performance horse in work.

Obesity

Obesity is a major trigger for IR. It is a sign that the carbohydrate intake of the horse has been higher than his need for a period of time. Excessive carbohydrate intake will increase the production of insulin, and continued exposure to high insulin levels can decrease the cells’ sensitivity to it. Obese horses are also less likely to exercise on their own.

Stress

Last but certainly not least is stress. Horses are fight-or-flight prey animals and, as such, tend to release glucose quickly into the blood if frightened. In a natural environment, a frightened horse needs this glucose to either run away or fight. These activities quickly consume the glucose in the blood. Domestic horses under chronic stress have a similar fight-or-flight response and will experience the continued release of corticosteroids. This causes glucose levels to stay high and will keep triggering the release of insulin. The high levels of circulating insulin are the cause of many of the symptoms we see in constantly-stressed horses. To avoid this situation, get to know your horse and determine what stresses him. Avoid putting him in these situations whenever possible. If you simply can’t avoid a known stress, be there to support him. A horse that knows he is loved and appreciated can handle much more stress than one who is treated like a tool.

Discovering Whether Your Horse is IR

To find out if your horse is IR you can have a simple blood test done that measures glucose and insulin levels, and then takes a ratio of glucose mg/dL divided by insulin mU/L. If this number comes out over 10 then you have nothing to worry about. If the number falls between 4.5 and 10 your horse is IR but is still compensating. If your horse falls in this category, you need to change his management (in terms of the factors discussed above) to prevent his condition from worsening. If the number is less than 4.5 then your horse is already compromised. If you do not immediately change his management, he could be at risk for laminitis.

For this test to be accurate the blood that is collected must be centrifuged to separate the serum within 30 minutes to one hour, and then the serum should be chilled and sent promptly to a lab. If the blood is not handled appropriately it will give a falsely low glucose reading. In many cases the glucose and insulin reading may be within the normal range but the ratio will still show IR. The trick is not to wait for your horse’s lab readings to go outside the normal ranges before making changes in the way you manage your horse.

Luckily, performance horses with IR tend to respond well to dietary changes. The main thing is to get the NSC levels down. Most sweet feeds contain 60% NSC so it is almost impossible to get the levels low enough. Oats are 50% NSC, making it a challenge to feed but it can be used in very small amounts if combined with grass hay plus alfalfa hay to bring the energy up. A diet of 3 pounds of oats, 3 pounds of alfalfa and, 12 pounds of grass hay would still have a NSC level of 18%, which is too high.

A better diet would be 2 pounds of rice bran, 4 pounds of alfalfa, and 12 pounds of grass hay, which offers enough calories for a horse in light work and still has a NSC level of around 14%. This diet also has a 3.5% fat content, so it is not likely trigger any digestive upsets. Some feed companies are now recognizing IR and listing the NSC ratios of their feeds. If you want to simplify your math you can get one of these feeds and then test just your hay. If you don’t buy large amounts of hay you may be able to ask your supplier to test his loads as they come in and let you know the NSC levels of the hay you are buying. If you are not able to test your hay you can soak it for 30 minutes in hot water or one hour in cold to lower the sugar levels. This may seem like a lot of work but could make a big difference in your horse’s health!

Author: Dr. Madalyn Ward, DVM
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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