The Horse's Hoof Diet Guidelines
by Yvonne Welz ©2007
Revised 12/07
How do you keep your horse's diet as natural as possible in
the modern world? What if you don't have 100 acres of varied terrain to supply
your horse with the different plants and minerals that it requires to fulfill
its nutritional needs? There are so many diets programs available, often with
contradictory opinions about what and what not to feed. It can get so confusing!
In our opinion, what matters most, when trying out a supplement program, is
that you are able to see positive results in your horses--an improvement in
their overall health and bloom. We've found what works best for us, and for
many of our friends. These recommendations are based on our own trial and
error experiences, and on our own latest nutritional research findings.
1. Forage: Feed free choice grass hay or pasture
as much as possible. Try to always provide something for the horse to munch
on 24 hours per day, providing lower quality hays to the easy-keepers as needed.
Try to limit alfalfa or legume hays to no more than 10% of the total daily
hay quantity -- but it may be a good idea to feed a pound of alfalfa daily
to any horse that is NOT on grass pasture, for the extra nutrients. Try to
purchase pesticide free or organic hays whenever they are available. Forage
should be the basis of the equine diet. For more information about choosing
appropriate hays and grasses for horses, visit safergrass.org.
Many horses with hoof problems are very sensitive to sugar content of hay,
and some grass hays can be high in sugar! In general, cool season grasses
(orchard, timothy, brome) are higher in sugars than the warm season grasses
(bermuda, prairie grass).
2. Energy Sources:
Grain: We recommend feeding as little grain as
possible. Grain should be considered more of a "supplement" than
a food, due to the many problems caused by excess starch in a horse's diet.
A small amount of grain (less than a pound per day, preferably just a handful)
fed for variety will not be a problem for most horses. There are quality organic
grain pellets available to give you more options (be sure to purchase from
a top quality company). Whole grains should be clean and from a trustworthy
source -- try to buy organic or pesticide free, if possible. As long as the
amounts fed are kept to a minimum, all grains can be fed to some horses in
very small quantities for variety. (Horses with Insulin Resistance or EPSM
or other grain-sensitive disorders should usually avoid regular grains).
Grain Substitutes: Most horses should require little
to no grain at all, but they will still need nutrients to balance out their
hay, which should be supplied in vitamin/mineral supplements. If "grain"
is necessary to mix these supplements, try using a grass hay pellet, or a
grass/alfalfa mix pellet. Some people have had success using beet pulp or
rice bran, but we don't generally recommend feeding large amounts (as in many
pounds daily!) of either, due to the possible pesticides and other toxins
that can be present (but research your supply source, and find out). There
are now many low starch "grain" mixes available - one that we have
found to be satisfactory and easily available is Nutrena Safe Choice -- again,
it should be used in very small quantities. In general, you want to select
a low NSC (non-structural carbohydrate, or sugar plus starch level) value
for most horses: Safe Choice is about 26% NSC, while Oats are 50% NSC, and
Corn is 74% NSC. Even lower in NSC value is Triple Crown Low Starch, Senior,
and Lite, all around 15-16% NSC. Triple Crown also has a product called Safe
Starch Forage, which is fortified chopped grass hay, with less than 10% NSC
and can even be fed as the complete ration, or just used for mixing supplements.
Ask the feed manufacturer to provide you with the NSC values of their feeds.
Some other choices for grain substitutes include black oil sunflower seeds
(BOSS), chia seeds, and whole extruded soybeans.
Fats: Average horses do not usually require much fat
in their diet, and usually green grass will supply all the fatty acids that
they need. Non-grazing horses should probably receive a supplement to provide
the necessary Omega-3 fatty acids. Suitable products include chia seeds,
whole extruded soybeans (such as Dynamite
H.E.S.), or whole fresh-ground flaxseed or a stabilized flaxseed meal
in very small quantities (such as Nutri-Flax from Horsetech)
(Flax does contain many anti-nutrient compounds, however, so its use must
be limited). If the exercise demand, or the horse's condition, requires extra
calories, we recommend supplementing with fat sources instead of grains.
For most horses, natural fat sources such as black oil sunflower seeds (BOSS),
chia seeds, flaxseed in small quantities, stabilized rice bran in small quantities,
or whole extruded soybeans can provide excellent energy nutrition. For horses
under super heavy workloads, or horses with EPSM,
additional fat will be necessary, and can be supplied with pure vegetable
oils. The best oils to use are cold-pressed, and an excellent one is
Uckele's CocoSoya, which
is a blend of coconut and soybean oils. Is feeding oil natural? Not really,
but neither is feeding a lot of grain, so it is best to avoid both! The main
equine energy source has always been the fatty acids fermented from fiber
in their hindgut. If feeding oil, vitamins should be fed in a separate feeding
(not with the oil) for best absorption.
3. Vitamins/Minerals: If your horse lives on an organic
pasture with grass & herbs grown in virgin soil that produces plant life
with correct nutrient values, it may not be necessary to provide supplements.
However, over-farming, over-grazing, pesticides, chemicals, harsh fertilizers,
acid rain, etc. have all contributed to a decline in nutrient values of our
soils. You may want to have your pasture and hay analyzed to determine your
area's deficiencies. If you don't have a reliable source of hay, and therefore
can't test, try to find out the general values of hay grown in your area.
There will be a pattern: different areas of the country have different excesses
and deficiencies. Here is more information about feed analysis: ANALYZING
HAY AND FEEDS Here is information about an Arizona-specific supplement:
Arizona Regional Mix
A general multivitamin/mineral balanced nutrient supplement
(such as the Dynamite brand that
we carry, or choose a top quality company such as Horsetech,
Vita-Flex or Uckele) as a
base for the horse's diet. If you are worried about over-supplementation,
try feeding less than the recommended daily dose. Another precaution against
over-supplementation is to always choose chelated mineral supplements,
which are better absorbed and handled in the body, plus chelation prevents
a mineral from interacting with other minerals and causing problems. Finally,
try not to mix lots of different products and brands together (which could
cause negative mineral interactions!) -- instead, stay with one good company,
and keep it simple!
4. Free-choice minerals: These are optional, except for
free-choice Salt - always provide free choice plain salt at
all times. We recommend providing loose salt, in addition to a white
salt block, if you must use a block (do not use the red mineral blocks made
for cattle).
Other free-choice minerals can be provided to the horse,
either routinely or with free access at all times. Although their use is hotly
debated, there is anecdotal evidence that horses can regulate their minerals.
If you are providing an exact daily-fed mineral mix based on your own specific
hay and feed analysis, it may be best to avoid free-choice minerals altogether,
which might throw your intricate balance out of whack. However, if you are
like most owners, and simply trying to help balance out your rations in general,
free-choice minerals make sense -- but choose wisely! Some free-choice minerals
have very questionable ingredients. We prefer the minerals available from
Dynamite.
5. Probiotics: Use a daily probiotic, such as
Dynamite Dyna-Pro. It is cheap insurance for keeping your horse's digestion
in top condition. It is indispensable for horses that are stressed, underweight,
going through changes such as de-shoeing and de-toxing, any horse prone to
colic or digestive upsets, and even for the easy-keeper whose system may not
really be working correctly. It really works!
