This week, I wanted to provide a rundown of what I feed my horses to inspire you to take a peek at your horse’s diet. Please note, I am not saying that the way I feed is perfect nor that I am an expert.
The diet I list out in this post is a culmination of years of experimenting and personal research. Always consult an equine nutrition professional or veterinarian before making any major changes to your horse’s diet.
Hay
We firmly believe in and promote a forage-first diet for horses. It is the most natural diet you can provide and, in my opinion, should always be standard. Our horses receive a free choice, grass hay out of hay nets 24/7. The horses that are able to graze will be turned out on grass during the summer months.
For reference, here are the amounts our horses receive:
- Monarch (17 year old, 1100lb Appendix Quarter Horse) consumes approximately 25lbs/day
- Shocker (25 year old, 750lb Halflinger/Quarter Pony) consumes approximately 20lbs/day
- Stormy (10 year old, 350lb miniature horse (overweight)) consumes approximately 8lbs/day
Ration Balancer
Since our horses are pretty easy keepers, we opted to feed a ration balancer instead of a typical high-energy concentrate. For more details on what exactly ration balancers are, check out this article by Equus.
We use the Triple Crown Balancer to add some necessary vitamins and nutrients that are lacking in our horses’ diets. It is worth mentioning that we feed below the manufacturer’s recommended amount since it would provide an extreme excess of multiple nutrients otherwise.
For reference, here are the amounts our horses receive:
- Monarch (17 year old, 1100lb Appendix Quarter Horse) receives 400g or approximately .88lbs
- Shocker (25 year old, 750lb Halflinger/Quarter Pony) receives 200g or approximately .44lbs
- Stormy (10 year old, 350lb miniature horse (overweight)) receives 100g or approximately .22lbs
Hay Pellets
We feed hay pellets to increase the palatability of the ration balancer and to add more feedstuff to carry supplements. The pellets also provide a bit more energy for our horses than just hay alone.
Our pelleted forages of choice are alfalfa pellets and timothy pellets both from Standlee.
For reference, here are the amounts our horses receive:
- Monarch (17 year old, 1100lb Appendix Quarter Horse) receives 400g or approximately .88lbs of alfalfa pellets
- Shocker (25 year old, 750 lb Halflinger/Quarter Pony) receives 200g or approximately .44lbs of alfalfa pellets
- Stormy (10 year old, 350lb miniature horse (overweight)) receives 150g or approximately .33lbs of timothy pellets
Spirulina
Spirulina was recommended to us by an equine nutritionist at MadBarn to help with Stormy’s heaves. According to the experts at MadBarn, “spirulina supplementation is used to support respiratory function and metabolic health in horses because of its potent antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and antihistamine properties.”
We are not loyal to any spirulina brands and simply purchase the most cost effective option.
For reference, here are the amounts our horses receive:
- Monarch (17 year old, 1100lb Appendix Quarter Horse) receives 20g
- Shocker (25 year old, 750 lb Halflinger/Quarter Pony) receives 15g
- Stormy (10 year old, 350lb miniature horse (overweight)) receives 5g
Salt
We add supplemental salt to our horses feed to further balance their diets. The horses also have free choice salt licks available and we have considered offering loose salt as well. At the moment we are feeding non-iodized salt since we still have a supply, but will switch to iodized salt when we run out.
For reference, here are the amounts our horses receive:
- Monarch (17 year old, 1100lb Appendix Quarter Horse) receives 30g
- Shocker (25 year old, 750 lb Halflinger/Quarter Pony) receives 15g
- Stormy (10 year old, 350lb miniature horse (overweight)) receives 7g
Flaxseed
Since many available equine feeds often cause an extreme imbalance in Omega 3s and 6s (recommended ratio of 3:1), we opted to add flaxseed. Flaxseed is high in Omega 3s which have wonderful anti-inflammatory properties. The shiny coats it provides is just a bonus. š We opt to feed Triple Crown Naturals Golden Ground Flax since it is a bulk, cost effective option.
Just like the balancer, we feed well below the manufacturer’s recommendations. For example, the manufacturer recommends Monarch would receive 170g of flax, whereas, after balancing, she only really needs around 20g.
We also avoid feeding vegetable and corn oils as they are very high in omega 6s and promote inflammatory responses.
For reference, here are the amounts our horses receive:
- Monarch (17 year old, 1100lb Appendix Quarter Horse) receives 20g
- Shocker (25 year old, 750 lb Halflinger/Quarter Pony) receives 15g
- Stormy (10 year old, 350lb miniature horse (overweight)) receives 5g
Thank you so much for reading a bit about equine nutrition and what I feed my horses. Let me know if any of the information in this post surprised you! Iād love to hear from you.
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