Dr. Worth has 3 tips for you on how to feed your horse on a budget: feed your hay in a net or bucket so it doesn't get trampled by your horse, feed your horse grains only if necessary, and finally look for generic nutrients such as feeding whole flax seed rather than expensive oil supplements.
Everything you need to know about feeding your horse during show season: from fat sources, to feeding on a trailer, to water intake. Feed your horse right during the competition season with our advice from Dr. Melyni Worth at Foxden Equine.
Horses should be fed a mainly forage diet and only adding in grain as needed. In almost all cases, horses should have access to fiber at all times. For overweight horses, this may mean including low quality hay or straw mixed in with better quality hay. Consistent access to hay acts as an ulcer preventative, satisfies their chewing need, and aids the horse in digesting food in the hindgut.
Preventing mold from infesting your hay is all about humidity and heat management. Stack your hay loosely on stacks to allow for maximum air flow between bales under cover.
Timothy and orchard grasses offer good feed value to horses. Dr. Worth demonstrates the differences in the seed heads so as to differentiate between the hay.
Bahiagrass is a grass that tolerates hot temperatures and can often be found in the Southeast of the US. It provides grazing and hay for horses. Dr. Worth explains why it can be useful and the nutritional value.
Hay is the principle source of fiber in domestic animals, and provision should be made to obtain sufficient hay for them, as hay is a far better feed in very cold temps than any kind of concentrate feed, as well being far safer. This means that access to plenty of hay is very important to generate both the energy source and the warmth. Along with the hay, the horse needs a supply of liquid water. Cold icy water hurts their stomachs, so when the temps drop the horses drink less, this puts them at risk of dehydration and colic. Providing liquid water is probably the hardest part of caring for horses in the cold temps.
In cold weather the best thing to feed horses is fiber as much as they will eat. Good quality hay is the best answer. Horses digest the fiber in the Hindgut (cecum and colons), where there is a huge population of bacteria which ferment the fiber. They give off short chain fatty acids as a by product of fermentation, the horse can absorb these through the gut walls and use them as an energy source.
Alfalfa, the legume, is a hay commonly fed to horses. Here we discuss how to identify alfalfa hay, when to feed it, and explain what the difference is between grass hay and legumes hay.
The amount of forage or hay fed to a horse during the summer and winter seasons depends on whether he has access to pasture, the amount and quality of that pasture, droughts, winter temperatures, and hours stalled.