Thoughts on Equine Nutrition

[horsearcher]

I do not quite have this journal in shape for public consumption.  Yes, I know, I suck, but . . .it happens. ;)  That said, I still have things to write (wasn't that eloquent?).  So, we are going to start with my thoughts on h a fairly hotly contested and often confusing topic: Equine Nutrition.

I'll state the obvious: owning a horse is hard.  Yes,

Comments

[lurath]

Sorry, I started writing this and realized it's unsolicited advice. Feel free to ignore or poke me in the eye.

11lbs of hay a day actually seems pretty slim. I'd feed that 2x a day for an air fern in no work if it's just grass hay. She should be getting 1.5-2% of her body weight in hay for something like Orchardgrass, and that's the bare minimum for an easy keeper. Some grass hays you would need to feed more because they are predominantly fiber. You can also tell how much nutritive value a hay has vs. the fiber by seeing how many seed heads the hay has. Of course, adding pellets bumps up the forage % but significantly lowers the potential for gut motility. It's always better to add as much long-stem hay as they will eat. You may also not want to supplement with protein if you are doing alfalfa pellets, as alfalfa has exceptionally high protein for forage.

And in general, for a skinny horse, I would feed 3-4% of the body weight I predict they SHOULD be. I would guess she's something between 800-900lbs when in good condition? Mostly because Deli is nearly 1000lbs when perfect and it's me doing a head calculation.

For reference sake, Deli gets 24lbs of hay a day. I'm sure she doesn't EAT all of that, because of Miss Boss Pig in the pasture, but that's what she requires to stay a nice condition (and she gets bulk supplements too) and I consider her an easy-ish keeper.

[horsearcher]

She's 975 now; bulky lady. ;) I was told 1% of body weight for forage and when I do feed more than the 11 pounds, she does not eat it all.

Also found the high-starch grains make her flaky so went low-starch, high-protein and suddenly there was a brain in the head!

So, I forgot another element: trial and error. I always love advice, so have at it. I never know when Today's Formula needs to be tweaked into Tomorrow's Formula. So damn complicated, even when simple. ;)

[lurath]

Silly horse, not cleaning up her hay! What kind of hay is it, because 1% is not accurate for many grass hays, and especially not if they are in work. Orchardgrass is one of the richer grass hays, timothy less so. I hear good things about bermuda grass, but I've never seen that sold anywhere!

Yeah, if you ever want to hear me rant about grains/starches, you should prod me :P

I would recommend figuring out how much protein she is actually getting though, because it's not a nutrient horses need much of and it can harm them if fed in the excess.

[horsearcher]

I would say 75% Timothy, 25 % Orchard. The field it was harvested from grew both and it was baled together. There is also a variety here called Valley Grass, which is great for easy keepers, I hear.

I'll check the protein content on the grain and adjust it to her alfalfa ration. (I keep the tags.) I almost prefer she have more alfalfa and less grain, as it works well with the oils I add too.

Of course, I am also paranoid because Bonnie fed her so much I swore I was going to roll her out of her stall one day. So, I tend to be all around paranoid. I know this will improve when we both live through this winter. ;)

[lurath]

Your instincts to feed more pellets over grain is right on, even if I do have a love-hate (mostly hate) relationship with alfalfa :D

IMO unless the horse is in seriously HEAVY work (3 day eventing, racing, etc.) they should never get grain. It is BAD in so many ways, and overfed everywhere. I'll try and look up the studies I get this from when I have the chance.

[horsearcher]

Trust me--it took ALOT to get me to feed alfalfa. It was on my never, never, NEVER list for a while, then I adopted a quarter horse. She does so well on it though, I just have to cringe and move on. ;)

I'd appreciate those studies. I like giving grain as it makes sure she takes in her supplements, but if less is better, less money for me to spend. ;)

[lurath]

I'll look for them sometime soon. I need to remember to bookmark them!

I've been trying to work on my bench brief, look for jobs, and write my capstone with NO success. I think I need to give up, because my brain is still apparently burnt-out from the last two weeks of work + paper writing. Ugh. WANT VACATION WITHOUT PRESSING THINGS I NEED TO DO.

[horsearcher]

Here's the deal. You owe me a barn visit and you need a break. So how about lunch at the Stillhouse followed by barn? :)