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Posted by PH Cody on November 12, 2002 at 08:55:44:
In Reply to: feeding basics posted by rep on November 10, 2002 at 12:05:08:
:Hi all. I am a new horse lover and am in a pony club, but I was sick last week and that is when they taught us about feeding and types of feed. I asked them about feed this week, but they only gave me a paper about it and a small plastic bag of the types of feed. So I was wondering if you guys can help me out a little and just tell me about the types of feed and how they help the horse, and just basicly all I need to know about feeding a horse. Thanks for any help, bye all.
Well, let's see, what would be the best way to answer this? Your types of feed can be broken down into basically two categories. One is your roughages - hay and grazing for the most part. The second is your concentrates - pelleted feed, grain, sweet feed, etc. Of the two, your roughages are your most important but usually the most under utilized. Your horse is designed by nature to eat steadily throughout the day. Unfortunately, that's not convenient for most people so we've stalled them and invented concentrated feed to get their nutrition into them in more concentrated feedings. This really isn't a good thing. When a horse eats hay, they chew more, produce more saliva which protects the stomach from acid, and provide their intestinal tract with more fibrous substance that tends to help keep things moving along they way nature meant for it to. That's not to say your concentrates aren't important. Some horses can not get all the energy and nutrients they need from their hay. Some horses are working hard, and need more nutrients and energy than hay can provide. A heavily lactating mare will often need more than hay can provide by itself also. The key is to remember that "feed" is your supplement, not your main source of nutrition. Now, there are various "levels" of quality between feeds and hays. In your roughages, you have grass hays (orchard grass, fescue, bermuda) and legumes (clover, alfalfa). As a general rule, grass hays have less available nutrition and more fiber, legumes have more available nutrition but less fiber. However, it still varies with the quality of hay itself. For instance, a late cutting of poor quality, mature alfalfa is likely to be stalkier (more fibrous) and of less nutrient value than an early cutting of good quality bermuda. Feed is the same, not all feeds are created equally. If the company cuts corners to make a cheaper feed, you're getting a cheaper feed. Just because the bag says it contains the same nutrients that a higher quality feed does, doesn't mean it gives your horse the same amounts of nutrients. Digestibility is the key here. High protein does your horse absolutely no good if they can't get to it via digestion. Might make the grass in the pasture a bit greener though... And again, the big thing with feeding is to remember that horses are designed to be perpetually munching. The more you can break up their feedings, the better off they will be. Feeding only one big meal a day is extremely bad for them. Their stomachs actually have a different type of lining that is more prone to damage from acid (ulcers) up at the top 3rd of the stomach. Pushing a lot of concentrated feed in at once will raise that acid level well up there, and because feed is not chewed as thoroughly as hay, they don't produce as much buffering saliva to protect their stomach. This can result in ulcers, colic, etc. Does that help any? Somewhere around here we have an article on feeds, I'll see if I can't find it and get it on our content page. And by all means, ask more questions :) PH Cody
Goodness, LOL, that's not really a "basic" question! There is so much to know...