Diet

Nutrition is the second most important element of your horse's care. If you are providing the right diet, everything else falls into place behind it, from curing thrush and chronic abscessing and thin, flat soles. Just the same as people, horses are what they eat. However, exercise is THE most important, as the descrepancies in diet can be neutralized with enough movement. We all know that a lack of certain key nutrients can lead to poor hoof condition, but too many can as well. It's important to balance your horse's overall diet and feed only what he needs. Most adult horses get all the calories and most of the nutrients the need in mixed grasses and hay.

Brome hay

FORAGE, FORAGE, FORAGE!!!

Provide a high fiber diet. A diet full of bulky hay will help keep your horse satisfied and avoid boredom. This will help your horse's overall metabolic needs as well as preventing bad habits picked up when there's nothing to nibble on but the side of the barn. Most horses, if allowed to adjust to a free choice diet, soon figure out they will always have access to the food and therefore learn to gauge "when to stop". At first though, they may pig out until they figure out the food is plentiful. If you have a real hog, just be sure to give low sugar grass hays and absolutely no grain.
Plain grass hays (including timothy,bermuda, prarie grass, etc.) should be the biggest and most freely given part of your horses' diet. Fescue and brome are two of the most common high sugar grasses available in my area and cause a lot of problems, even though they are grass and not legume. Alfalfa is a good source of nutrients and calories, yet low in NSC (non-structural carbohydrates-or starch), though there is a calcium imbalance, it's appropriate for most horses in moderation. Obese horses obviously don't need the calories available in aflalfa or brome and fescue or clovers.

    Omit grain. Simply put, the average horse doesn't even need grain in their diets. Horses are designed to browse, not eat meals. If your horse is fat, but you want him to feel like he's getting something, a handful of black oil sunflower seeds or a carrot or an apple serve just as well.
      A handful of oats here and there is fine. Sunflower seeds or any wild bird seed mix (without additives) given by the handful is fine. Try different kinds of fruit, like apples or even bananas! Vegetables are fun to experiment with. Remember, a little here and there is good, but you don't want to suddenly change the diet with 10lbs of carrots or anything! Everything in moderation, except the grass hay!
       Feeding at ground level is best. The head down position is what they are designed for. It allows the nasal passages to drain, so less dust and fewer germs get in the horses' respiratory system to make him sick or stir up allergies. It stretches his muscles and allows him to see all the way around himself, which can make them less defensive than having their head buried in a bucket up to the eyeballs at chest height. And hay nets/ racks that are safely placed high, allow seeds and dust to fall into eyes and noses.If you feed grain or beet pulp, use a rubber tub on the ground.
     Remember, bulky fiber, in a variety if possible, with a complimentary mineral supplement if needed. Avoid sugary/starchy foods. Horse don't need molasses in their diet! Salt should be free choice, and I provide loose or rock salt (the wind around here blows the loose salt around). The blocks are fine, though some horses get tired of licking them. (I may be wrong, but I would think the tongue would get sore licking it too much).

Mixed pasture grass offers variety and loads of fiber. Most pastures are actually too rich in NSC for horses as the grass is so lush and easily accessed as well as lacking much variety. In the wild a horse would travel more to obtain less. You may need to limit your horses' time on lush pasture or have him wear a grazing muzzle. However, grass is still a much better food for your horse than grain concentrates. Believe it or not, I actually see more healthy hooves come from poor, weedy pastures than I do from manicured and fertilized properties or stalled and pampered horses. The difference is the amount of wandering the horse has to do to get any green grass. This includes my own pasture, which is poor by many a horseman's standards, yet my horses don't have the same thrush and laminitis issues.

Check out the site http://safergrass.org/ to learn more about NSC in grasses. In a nutshell, it offers tons of information about the varying levels of sugars in the grasses available in most pastures these days and how inappropriate they are for horses. The sugar level can vary not only in spring/fall as most horsemen know, but from time of day, and during weather changes. In general, if you have a horse that is senstive to sugars in the grass, grazing at night is the better time of day, and the use of a grazing muzzle would be smart. Grazing muzzles have a hole in the bottom to limit the amount of grass in each bite the horse takes. It slows down his intake, yet allows him to be turned out with for companionship with other horses, and for exercise. Grazing muzzles can be bought at Horse.com

What I learned in class....

I took a couple of natural hoof care classes (from Penzance Equine Solutions) to keep up to date on hoof care and learned a lot about nutrition in the process. I will be taking more focused classes on nutrition later, but for now, I'll share some of the basics with you.

One thing I learned, is that to be sure your feed is appropriate for your horse, you really should have it analyzed. There are agencies in each state or county that can take samples of your forage (pasture grasses) or hay and tell you what nutrients are lacking, or more importantly, what is already there to avoid over-supplementation. Don't forget to factor in any concetrates (grain) that you do feed or your results could be useless.

Another thing I learned, is that variety truely is the spice of life. You can give your horse traditional horse feed, hay and treats, but did you know you can offer fruits,vegetables and herbs? Most of our table veggies are okay and even healthy for horses to eat! Potatoes, tomatoes and peppers, however, should be avoided as they are related to the nightshade plant. Sweet potatoes are fine, though! Horses will pick and choose what they need. It's amazing how they intuitively know what plants to eat. Offering variety also covers more nutrients in the diet. Horses don't need or want an exact mix of the same thing each day. Their bodies have different needs at different times based on stress, exercise, illness and weather. Their diet can be fairly consistent, after all, drastic changes are know to cause havoc in extremes. It is intresting to note, though that horses that get more variety on a consistent basis and fed approximately the same time each day suffer fewer colic episodes.

SUPPLEMENTS AND CONCENTRATES

Do not feed iron supplements. Horses do not need large amounts unless suffering major trauma.Iron interferes with the absorbtion of key trace elements.

Biotin supplements have been popular lately. I find most horses aren't necessarily deficient, but that the balance of minerals was off. (Some minerals block absorption of others). When it HAS been necessary, I have found a couple of supplements that work beautifully in my area. The bonus is they make a wonderful hair-coat grow in as well. Horseshoer's Secret or Source HF are my recommended hoof supplements for my area with horses that get a lot of brome hay or grain. These are available at Horse.com If your horse still has dry, flaky feet, there may be a copper, zinc, methionine and manganese deficiency. Again, having your forage tested is a very useful tool to know which supplement will work.

Grain: Most horses do not need grain at all. Sure, they like it, but it's not natural for them in large quantities. Older horses and very hard working (think ranch horses or race horses) may not be able to consume enough calories in hay in a single day, but they also work it off (or older horses simply can't process food as well they used to). Older horses may simply need teeth floated by the vet or Equine Dentist. Some can't eat hay and need pelleted feeds that can be soaked to a mush.

    Dry ( no added molasses) oats is my number one choice for grain. It has the highest fiber content of grains you will find, and corn being the lowest fiber, high starch (read sugar), so corn is my least recommended. Oats come whole, rolled, crimped, steamed, etc. The more processed they are, the more easily digested they are, but they go bad quicker and cost more. I do NOT recommend corn. It's very starchy and can make a horse "hot" or hyper . A handful here and there is fine for variety, but not suitable for large amounts. It's fattening, but not much nutrition to it and can easily founder a horse, so unless you have no other options, avoid it.
    A lot of mixed grains contain corn, oats and molasses with some protein pellet and vitamins added. Look for ones that don't have any corn or molasses.
   Don't let anyone fool you, young horses do NOT need large amounts of protein to grow properly. In fact, forcing growth can lead to health issues later, and if you keep your youngster fat, you are stressing his joints. It's irresponsible to feed your colt to be big before he is ready. A quick note on foals. I don't like creep feeding, it's forcing growth. Foals need hay, milk and perhaps a supplement can be started when they are weaned. Also, I do not like the common practice of early weaning. Three months is not long enough for the foal to develop emotionally or physically. In nature, wild foals aren't weaned until closer to a year old, give or take. I feel that the foal should be left with its mother to nurse as long as is possible (average 8-9 months).

There are supplements available now to aid horses with metabolic syndromes (Cushings Disease and EMS). These horses tend to be "easy keepers" that are always fat, even when given very little feed, and tend so suffer chronic laminitis, thrush and skin problems, and may have shaggy haircoats and cresty necks. These horses should have a grazing muzzle and no grain whatsoever.

ALTERNATIVE FIBER SOURCES AND TREATS

Sometimes you just can't buy all the hay you need (droughts and other extreme weather conditions can shorten local supplies). To keep your horse full of fiber, try some alternative sources.

Beet Pulp Shreds. After the sugar is extracted from the sugar beet, the leftovers can be shredded or pelleted for feeds for livestock. This is the base for most "complete" pelleted feeds. Soak with an equal amount of water before serving to eliminate the chance of choke. BP expands up to twice its size when water (or saliva) is in contact. This is an excellent hay replacer for older horses who can't chew. BP has similar calorie content to oats, but without the NSC. One note, however, is many feed mills add molasses to it to make it more palatable. If you can't get plain BP, soak the sweetened variety and rinse twice to remove the extra sugars. To get your horse used to eating it, add a handful or two at a time to his usual ration and gradually increase the amount of BP, and less of the other ration. If you use warm water to soak in the winter, horses LOVE it.
Alfalfa cubes. While Alfalfa has a bad rap, it's actually a great food for horses. Contrary to popular belief, the protein in it does not harm kidneys. It is high in fiber and calories, so is great for hard working, or old or young horses. It's also just a great supplement (in moderation) to your horses's regular hay diet. The calcium ratio is off, but can easily be balanced with a low cal/high phos feed (great if you feed oats to balance them!). This is where it helps to have your regular hay tested. It may balance out the alfalfa. I use cubes. I only give a pound or two a day, and I toss them out in the pasture and the horses "treasure hunt" for them. I've yet to find a missed cube in the pasture the next day. It's a sneaky way to get them more exericse.
Wheat bran. High in phos (great with Alfalfa!). Bran is a centuries old treat for horses to produce bowel movements. Recent research indicates the sudden adition (the traditional weekly bran mash) irritates the bowels, causing the poop, rather than simply being a good fiber, however, it somehow doesn't cause colic symptoms or otherwise disrupt the horse. Feeding high amounts over a long period could be harmful if calcium isn't added to the diet to balance it, but some alfalfa can take care of that. This is another common additive to complete feed pellets.
Rice Bran. The outer part of the rice kernal that is high in energy. Good for fattening up "hard keepers". Pricey in the bag, it seems, but per serving is quite economical. Just be sure to buy the "stablized" variety so it won't spoil before you use it.
Black Oil Sunflower Seeds (BOSS). These are rich in Omega fatty acids and provide a few vitamins key to hoof health. A cup or two a day is all that is needed and they really put a shine on the coat. These are not the striped king, but the birdseed variety (be sure there is no harmful additives). These are high in fat-the good energy instead of sugar.
Other bird seeds. Other seeds can be added (up to a cup a day) to add variety (just be careful of the chemicals added)
COMMERCIAL COMPLETE AND SENIOR FEED PELLETS are generally milled to provide all the fiber and nutrients for horses that, for whatever reason, can't have regular hay. These can be great, but be sure the one you pick doesn't list molasses as a primary ingredient, preferably none. Most use the ingredients I mentioned above anyways.
Salt and Mineral blocks. I mentioned I personally use plain rock salt so it won't blow away, but I do like to add that the yellow blocks are good. The yellow is sulfur, which is helpful with older horses. I don't recommend the red blocks, they contain a lot of iron and are geared more for cattle.
Protein blocks. Waste of money. They are loaded with molasses, so the horses eat way too much, and don't need what they contain anyways.
Horse cookies. Okay for occasional treats, but you're probably better off giving an apple or carrot.
Garden scraps are fine. Avoid tomatoes, potatoes and peppers, to be safe. Lettuces and fruits are fine. Pumpkin seeds and watermelons seem to be favorites. Use your imagination with garden scraps. A handful here and there. Avacados are listed as posionous in some places, but it's never been proven, and in fact, have been proven HEALTHY for horses, so you can try it. Spinach, lettuces, cucumbers, melons, bananas, even lentils and beans can be added. ( I usually just give about a cup of whatever chopped up or the whole single fruit/veggie)