Posts Tagged ‘Horse Feed’

I am adding corn oil to my horse’s supplements, and as I am still in school, I cannot personally feed my horse twice a day. We pay for someone to give feed to all of our horses. I individually bag his feed for the AM and PM and I was wondering if I could pour the corn oil the day before and let it sit in the bag all night. Will it spoil the feed or not?

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!

Erik Durow
http://www.horsesfeed.com.au
Practical Horse Feeding Information for Recreational Riders
Visit the above website for more information and resources.

Author: Erik Durow
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Smiling shark

Okay, I have a horse. But, I would like some care tips. I’m no expert and just want to make sure I’m doing everything right. What percentage of grains, horse feed, hay, and grass should be in the diet? How often do I need to float the teeth? How often should I worm? How often should I pick the hooves? Any other care tips and advice on horse ownership is appreciated. Thanks!

Keeping your horse warm, healthy, and happy during the winter can be challenging, especially if you live in a climate with extreme cold weather. While temperatures don’t drop too far here in Texas, I have many clients in northern states who struggle to keep their horses fat and sassy during this winter. So this issue is dedicated to horse health care during the winter, including ways to minimize your feed bill and ways to prevent chiropractic issues.

Horse Health Care Basics for Winter
Before diving into the different kinds of horse feed and other tips, I’m going to first cover the basics. These apply year-round, but are especially important before winter sets in. You probably already know about these, but I would be remiss if I didn’t mention them so I’ll cover them quickly here.

Teeth: If you horse has not had a float within the last year, it may be time to take him in for a checkup and possibly a float. A horse with sharp points, hooks, or ramps in his mouth tends to drop feed or chew improperly, which can lead to indigestion or colic. More importantly, your horse doesn’t get the most out of his feed and you could end up with unwanted vet bills to treat colic.

Parasites: Going into winter, it’s always a good idea to check your horse for parasites with a fecal test. Even if the fecal test comes back negative, you may want to give your horse a double dose of Strongid-type wormer to take care of tapeworms, which do not show up in a fecal analysis. You can do this up to once a year.

Stress: Horses can quickly lose weight when stressed. Causes of stress are numerous, including extreme physical cold, injuries, hard training, or even changes in living environment. Horses can also be
emotionally stressed by doing a job for which they are not suited or if their living conditions are unsuitable. For instance, a horse that is constantly being picked on by his herd mates won’t have access to
feed, and may not feel like eating.

The Best Horse Feed for Winter
To keep your horse healthy this winter, you need to make sure he is getting enough of the right kind of calories to stay warm, and drinking enough water to keep his digestion functioning properly.

Let’s talk about calories first. If the temperature drops dramatically during the winter in your part of the country, your goal will be to keep your horse warm. The best way to feed your horse to keep him warm
is to increase the fiber in his diet, which includes hay, alfalfa, and beet pulp. Increased fiber keeps a horse warmer than increased grain because the digestion of fiber generates heat. Hay and other kinds of fiber are digested in the horse’s hindgut, or large intestine, which generates much more heat than digestion in the small intestine (where grain is mostly digested).

So increase your horse’s fiber content first to keep him warm. If he loses weight and still needs more calories, consider adding a bit of alfalfa or grain. Up to a cup of corn oil per day will also help keep weight on your horse.

Then there is your horse’s water intake, which is especially important during the winter. Horses tend to drink less in cold weather, since cold water makes them feel colder. If your horse doesn’t drink enough
water to keep his digestion functioning, especially during cold dry weather, he could end up with impaction colic.

There are several ways to increase your horse’s fluid intake during the winter. I like feeding bran mashes made with warm water. Horses love bran mashes and the high water content is great for their digestion. The warm water in the mash also helps your horse feel warmer. You can also offer beet pulp shreds soaked with hot water. Since it can take 30 minutes or more to soak beet pulp, you may need to top up the bucket with hot water before serving it, otherwise it will be cold.

Horse Health Care in Winter: Blankets and Clipping
If you blanket your horse during the winter, choose a blanket that both fits and is made of a lightweight material. A well-fitting blanket does not “pull” across the shoulders, chest, or withers. Most newer blankets are pleated at the shoulder and designed to avoid this tightness over the withers and chest. It’s important to choose a blanket that fits because an ill-fitting blanket, worn all winter, can create chiropractic issues that you will have to solve in the spring.

I also suggest you invest in one of the new blankets made of lightweight materials, as opposed to using older-style canvas blankets. The lightweight material in new blankets allows your horse’s hair to stay fluffy, which keeps him warmer. Older-style blankets tend to flatten your horse’s coat, which will make him feel chilly.

Finally, if at all possible, avoid body clipping your horse. If you must clip your horse’s coat, stick with a hunter clip, which at least leaves your horse with some of his winter coat while still allowing him to work hard without sweating too much.

Madalyn Ward, DVM, is a recognized author and veterinarian in the field of holistic horsekeeping. For free tips on horse health, horse personality types, laminitis, and horse nutrition, plus one-stop shopping on holistic horse products, visit http://www.BuyHolisticHorse.com and her blog at http://blog.horseharmony.com.

Author: Dr. Madalyn Ward, DVM
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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What do you do when your horse is sick? Do you run and grab every homeopathic remedy, feed supplement, drug, new horse feed, and bodywork manual on your shelves? Do you drive your horse straight the vet and hope the bill isn’t going to kill you? Do you call up every horse-loving friend you have and ask for advice?

In short, do you throw everything but the kitchen sink at your horse and hope that SOMETHING works?

Horse Health Care: The Beauty of One Thing at a Time

When I first began working with holistic veterinarian Dr. Madalyn Ward and learning about subjects like herbs, homeopathy, nutrition, and bodywork, one of the first lessons she taught me is this:

“When treating a horse for any condition, try one thing at a time otherwise you won’t know what works and what doesn’t.”

That’s a really hard lesson for horse owners to learn, especially when it comes to their own horses. We all hate seeing our horses in pain, whether it be from hurting hooves, an ouchy ulcer, or an oozing abscess. We want it fixed and we want it fixed now!

But often times throwing every remedy but the kitchen sink at your horse only confuses the situation… and ends up costing you more money.

A Weight Loss Example

For instance, suppose your horse is losing weight this winter. This could happen for a number of reasons, including:

• he’s not getting enough food
• he’s not digesting his food well because of ulcers or other issues
• he’s shivering off all the calories you feed him
• he’s not getting the right kind of food
• he’s in with a group of horses who move him around too much

This is just a short list. There are all kinds of other reasons in the horse health care sphere that could explain why he is losing weight, but this covers the basics.

So everyday you go out to feed this horse and he’s cold, he’s lost weight, he’s shivering, and he looks totally miserable. I’ve known people who react by doing all the following:

• blanket the horse
• feed him more grain AND more hay
• add beet pulp and corn oil to his diet
• stop riding him
• move him away from other horses
• put him on Stomach Soother or Succeed in case he has an ulcer

Wow, that’s a lot of “doing”! It does cover a lot of horse health issues in a “just in case” kind of way, but it’s a costly way to do things. Instead of doing all of the above, it makes more sense to figure out why the horse is losing weight, then make one or two changes at a time and see what happens. You can ask yourself some questions to help you figure out what’s going on. Here are some examples.

1. Is the horse being pushed off his feed or moved around all the time by other horses?

If this is case, then putting him in with another gentle horse who shares well can help your horse get more feed and conserve more energy. Often times, older horses or horses with a quiet disposition make good companions.

2. Does the horse eat his feed well or does he take breaks in-between to just stand or to lie down?

This usually indicates an ulcer of some kind. If this is the case, you can try adding a natural ulcer supplement like Succeed or Stomach Soother to his diet to see if this helps. Acidophilus, bifidus, and enzymes are also good options.

3. Has he had his teeth floated recently?

If it has been more than a year since he’s had a float, you might consider taking him into the equine dentist. A horse with sharp points and hooks on his teeth is likely to develop ulcers in his mouth, making eating painful. This often accounts for weight loss.

4. Does he shiver in the cold?

If so, add fiber rather than grain to his diet. Fiber is digested in a horse’s hindgut and produces a lot more warmth than grain, which is digested in the small intestine. If your horse is quite thin, putting a blanket on AND adding more hay to his diet is probably a good combination.

5. Is he in pain?

If you have ever had to deal with an abscessed tooth, migraine headaches, or any other kind of chronic painful conditions, then you know that pain can eat up your body’s physical resources faster than running a marathon. If your horse is in undiagnosed pain, he may be using up all his calories just to deal with pain. If your horse has a stoic personality, he may not tell you he is in pain (learn more about horse personality types on the Horse Harmony website). Consider taking your horse to the vet to get a once-over before making a decision about what and how to remedy the situation.

Horse Health Care and the Conservative Approach

In an article of this length, it’s not possible to cover all the questions that you might have to ask yourself about your horse to figure out what’s wrong, but you get the picture. If you have a hard time figuring out what’s going on in your horse’s body and brain, check out these two websites:

Holistic Horsekeeping (has a wealth of horse health care resources)

Herbs and Animals (a great animal communication site)

Stephanie Yeh is a zen cowgirl obsessed about horses, healing, natural remedies, herbs, magic, MLM, and more. Check out natural horse care tips, ways to fund your horse obsession, natural health products, and more on her blog ( http://zencowgirl.blogspot.com ). Get her free ebook for wacky horses and humans, and order XanGo mangosteen products on her website ( http://www.mangosteengood.com ).

Author: Stephanie H. Yeh
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Smiling shark

A horse needs care 365 days of the year come rain or shine. Any horse whether young or retired should be taken care of with respect. When you buy a horse consider who is going to take care of the horse. Are you going to be the one to go out in the rain or snow to feed him and make sure he has water? If the thought sends a chill through your bones, you may want to board your horse at a facility, so someone else has the responsibility to care for your horse.

A horse/pony needs approximately 2.5% of its body weight in food per day. Horse feed mainly consists of hay(grass) and hard feed. Your horse should be fed according to his workload. A horse that has free access to a field 24 hours a day and is seldom ridden can maintain his weight with a small amount of hard feed versus grass. Where as a horse which is stabled most of the day and ridden daily will require more hard feed.

Here are some feeding Tips:

o Feed only good quality hay and feed

Store your feed away from water to prevent mold

o Feed your horse plenty of fiber (bulk)

o Provide a constant supply of clean, fresh water

o Make any feeding changes gradually

o Feed according to the age of your horse and the amount of exercise he gets

Overfeeding grain to a horse can lead to a serious case of gas colic and cause your horse to suffer from severe abdominal pain

o Wash feeding mangers and buckets regularly

o Horses should have three meals a day instead of one large meal

o Allow your horse the time to digest his food before exercising him(wait an hour or more)

One of the most important ways to avoid colic is to feed your horse regularly. Feed good quality fiber (hay), make sure you open a bale and smell it before offering it to your horse. If the hay smells moldy or looks dusty do not feed it to your horse. Ingesting bad hay can be fatal to animals.

On average most horses can consume three flakes of hay per day. When riding your horse only on weekends or sporadically buy a food that is non-heating and formulated for low energy. Few pleasure horses need more than a cup of grain or horse feed several times a week. If your horse is looking pudgy you may need to cut back on his hay or check with your veterinarian to make sure he is getting the correct quantity of hard feed (grain/pellets).

If your horse competes in shows or you go on a lot of arduous trail rides, you will need to feed more grain or pellets. Talk to your veterinarian about how much grain your horse should have before you give him this type of feed on a daily basis. Professional advice can prevent a very pudgy horse or a difficult horse to handle due to overfeeding.
It is important to your horses performance and health that you know what to feed him and how to feed him. Talk to your veterinarian about giving your horse vitamin and mineral supplements to be sure all of his nutritional needs are being met.

Your horse guide. Get information on buying, owning and caring for your horse, learn about horse health.

Paul Hegarty is the owner of learningfromdvds.com. Price compare Yoga DVDs, read reviews, download free E-books. Read this months e-book on “How To Spot A fraudulent Email”. Grab your free copy today.

Author: Paul Hegarty
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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In order to get the best performance possible out of a horse, proper nutrition is absolutely essential. Whether the horse is training for competitive riding or just leisure riding, good nutrition helps create and maintain a healthy horse. What basic things must each horse owner take into account to help create a healthy diet? These are a few:

There is one fruit and one vegetable that must be a staple of every horse’s diet. Carrots are important as a balancing food in the diet and can help the horse maintain his eyesight into old age. Even more important than that are the apples. Apples have long been a favorite of horses and for good reason. Whether red or granny smith, apples help make a healthy horse.

Obviously, horse feed is an important aspect of each horse’s diet. There are plenty of good horse foods out on the market, so finding a good one is not much of a challenge. These should be filled with oats, grains, and oils in order to help the horse remain healthy. Simply providing this horse feed is not enough, though. Good horse owners add a little something to the bucket in order to provide the best for their animal.

Cod liver oil should be mixed into the food each time it is served. This nutritious oil is full of vitamins, which help supplement the horse’s diet. In addition to that, molasses can be mixed in with dry horse feed.

In order to truly be healthy, horses need their fair share of salt. Since it is not feasible to salt their food, horse owners need to think of other options. Most tack shops sell a horse lick, which is designed especially for horses. It is important to get the horse version, as there are also salt licks designed for cattle.

One secret food can help horses retain their energy. If you put your horse through a lot of activity during the day, it will undoubtedly get tired. In order to rejuvenate the horse, an owner must use a combination of foods. One of the best foods for this energy boost is the red beet. Horses won’t particularly like beets unless they are first soaked in water. This healthy food is full of energy and nutrients that every active horse needs, though.

One question that many horse owners have is about the oats that they feed the horse. Oats are a valuable part of any horse’s diet, but horses can not live on oats alone. Since oats have a highly unbalanced level of calcium and phosphorous, they must be combined with hay or alfalfa sprouts in order to keep the horse healthy. Added as a supplement, oats can be good for horses, though.

Proper horse nutrition is difficult to attain, because it requires meticulous planning and constant attention to detail. Horses need lots of different things in order to thrive, so owners must always be conscious of new trends in the horse industry.

Patricia Reszetylo has been a horse crazy kid since 1978. She now operates http://www.EquineTeleseminar.net where she interviews other equestrians on a variety of horse health, training and equine business topics By Request. Visit http://EquineTeleseminar.net/free.htm for your own free copy of a telepak (audio and transcript) from the most popular horse health call of 2006. You dont want to miss out on this important information!

Author: Patricia Reszetylo
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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After years of practicing both conventional and holistic medicine for horses, I decided to compare the cost, effectiveness, and net results of managing and treating horses holistically versus conventionally.

In this article I compare results for the average trail horse that is ridden about 2-3 times a week. I have used average feed and veterinary costs for my area (Austin, Texas), and drug and supplement costs from a major horse supply catalog.

I then discuss the issues related to each area of care, including feed, supplements, vaccines, dewormers, and first aid. Stay tuned for different profiles in coming months, when I will compare horses in different disciplines, young horses, older horses, and broodmares.

>>> Holistic Horse >> Conventional Horse Feed Costs

Grain is slightly cheaper to feed and easier to store than hay, which makes the conventional horse slightly cheaper to feed on the one hand. On the other hand, the holistic horse, which has access to more hay, stays happy and entertained and is less likely to develop expensive habits and vices such as chewing on wood, cribbing, or weaving.

Supplements

In the past, hay and oats provided all the nutrition a horse needed, but these days common farming practices do not produce feeds that are high in vitamins and minerals. Hoof quality is the first area to be affected by such poor nutrition, and few horses can maintain healthy feet on a diet of hay and oats alone. If you doubt this, just check any horse supply catalog. The one I checked offered 22 topical hoof conditioners and 28 separate supplements. Cell Tech’s Super Blue Green Algae offers a wide range of vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and antioxidants in a whole food form. It is inexpensive to feed, promotes healthy feet, and supports the horse in all aspects of health.

Vaccines

Some people will choose not to vaccinate at all while others will choose to use more vaccines than the ones I’ve listed in the trail horse comparison. I believe that over-vaccination is one of the most common triggers for chronic diseases such as laminitis and uveitis, and contributes to allergic conditions. Stressing the horse’s system with over-vaccination can also affect the digestive system, leading to mineral deficiencies. Stress also decreases the amount of healthy bacterial flora in the gut, increasing the likelihood of colic.

Dewormers

We are fortunate to have some fairly safe chemical dewormers such as Pyrantel and Fenbendazole, yet some people still prefer using natural products to support the horse’s digestive and immune systems rather than using chemical dewormers. Regardless of which method you use, it is wise to double check your program with fecal exams at least twice a year.

First Aid

When I practiced strictly conventional medicine I found that most horses suffered from minor injuries or infections at least several times a year. These minor emergencies kept me busy, and because they were so common most of my clients started keeping drugs on hand and learned to treat these conditions themselves.

When I began to treat my patients more holistically, with fewer vaccines and better nutrition (including the use of probiotics such as Acidophilus), I noticed that the horses had less and less need for drugs. My patients no longer needed bute or antibiotics for minor cuts and punctures. These wounds healed quickly and easily with no loss of riding time. Gone also was the aggravating chronic nasal discharge that often kept horses out of work for weeks at a time.

A holistically managed horse with a healthy immune system will often run a fever for a short period of time when exposed to a virus or bacteria. This response slows the pathogen’s growth and deprives it of nutrients. A short course of probiotics will help support the horse during this time. Once the fever breaks, the horse bounces back quickly with little nasal discharge or cough. These horses then go right back to work without concern about relapse. Conventionally managed horses taking anti-inflammatories and antibiotics will often get better in the short term, but then relapse or develop a chronic nasal discharge.

The Results Are In!

The trail horse example I have used above precisely demonstrates what I have experienced in my practice. While it costs about the same to manage a horse either conventionally or holistically, I’ve found that holistically managed horses are much healthier overall, which means fewer chronic problems and more days of riding time. In fact, conventionally managed horses have about 7 times the number of sick days as holistically managed horses.

Madalyn Ward, DVM, co-author of Holistic Treatment of Chronic Lamintis, is certified in Veterinary Homeopathy, Chiropractic and Acupuncture. Through her website, Holistic Horsekeeping, (http://www.holistichorsekeeping.com), she publishes a free monthly newsletter, offers the Healthy, Happy Horse resource group, e-books, holistic horsecare products and information for horse and mule owners.

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