In my mind, there are two big questions I feel I need to ask myself about feeding my horses:
- What am I feeding?
- Why am I feeding it?
The first is probably easy enough to answer. I just list off what is in my shed and what goes into the buckets each day. The second is a more interesting question and possibly reveals more.
When I first starting answering this question, it revealed something interesting. And when I ask other people to delve into this question, it can also reveal something interesting.
Most of us are feeding what we are because someone else told us to.
Our neighbour feeds that food. Our parents always fed that food. Our friend at pony club feeds that food. Or, worse yet, ‘the guy at the produce’ said to feed it. (Let’s just take a moment here to acknowledge that ‘the guy at the produce’ is possibly there to SELL you a product rather than to offer studied nutritional advice.)
I’ve had horses for 20 years and I’ve been guilty of all of those reasons at one time or another for feeding what I did. Some of the advice may have served me well, but other advice did not.
Another answer to the ‘why’ question might be, ‘because I’ve always fed that’. Yes, I too have been guilty of that one. The problem with that one is that we need to feed seasonally and we need to feed according to age and health and individual needs. And, we need to feed according to our pasture’s specific nutrient levels and grass species. Feeding what you’ve always fed may not serve your horse well if you relocate him to another paddock, for example.
Now when I ask myself the ‘why’ question, my answers involve a combination of having studied nutritional charts of specific feeds, experimented with what worked, monitored changes in my horses closely, adjusted feed seasonally (and sometimes week to week), checked my horses’ condition scores, looked at the health of their feet (huge indicators of nutritional value), and thrown all of that together with a pinch of ‘what can I manage on this time and budget?’
So before we begin looking at specifics of feed, now’s a good time to take a moment and really ask yourself why you are feeding what you are feeding.
Posted by katrina on 02/06/2011 at 1:45 am
At the moment I’m feeding only lucerne chaff and a bit of vegetable oil plus grazing (mostly kikuyu). I have had her on Coprice versatile and also steamed and rolled barley and she tied up as soon as she was asked to work for a while. Prior to this I tried her on Mitavite…tied up even after only a few trots around a roundyard unmounted. I worried about her food because she was hard to get her to put on weight after I purchased her, however after about 4 wormings in quick succession, she visibly passed worms so I put that down to infestation now I look back. She is paddocked by herself and therefor doesnt move around much which makes her more prone to tie up when used after inactivity. We are scared they need supplimental minerals etc. and therefor its easy to start adding pellets or grains. Maybe its a nurturing thing too.