Food Science

[RideSide]

I'm a bit of an organiser, I like to research things, prices, products, trends, I've been riding for 18 years and when I decided that I definitely want to work towards my own horse I started researching everything I could to get a grasp on the whole responsibility of your own horse. BUT there's one thing I can't wrap my head around; feed.

Maybe it's the amount of maths, but looking at forums of people discussing their diets, recommended diets, the difference between good doers and hard doers. It's like reading a wizards scroll. I can't get my head around it!

Is there anyone who might be able to explain in the simplest terms how someone figures out whether to feed hard feed and how they know WHAT hard feed to pick, how to calculate hay to grass ratios, etc?

Right now it really does seem like magic to me :rolleyes4:

 

[Shay]

Have a look at either a BHS stage 2 book or the PC Manual. Both have a very clear and simple diagram showing what weights and proportions for what type of horse. I've tried googling it and I can't find it online so you might need to buy a copy or borrow of a friend.

The maths is actually relatively simple once you get your head round it - but you can't be absolute without a horse to apply it too as well.

As to which hard feed to pick - it you need one all just to add to the complexity.... To be honest that is just a matter of personal preference. Pretty much every make has a range with covers most if not all possible eventualities. If find this a good start point for a basic animal with no additional needs...

a) what can you get easily close to you? If you can't get the make at all - remove it from the list.
b) what are you prepared to spend? You can usually get an economy version of many things
c) What do you already have in the feed store? (I'm a great believer in not too many barrels of feed so I try to get more than one on the same base feed if I can. Only matters if you have several horses though.)
d) what type of feed do you need. The easiest way to judge is what Mj/kg rate is it. You need to feed to manufacturers spec if you want to get all the vits and mins so there is no point getting a high energy feed and feeding less of it. What you need will depend on the type of horse and the workload you want from it so you can't make that basic decision without the horse to apply it to.

If you are still left with a choice of 2 or 3 call their nutrition line and see which one you like best!

If you have something which has a particular need then you'll have to start with what you are feeding for and work from there. But do bear in mind that there is a lot of hype about various feed and supplements for horses most of which are completely unecessary.

 

[AdorableAlice]

I'm a bit of an organiser, I like to research things, prices, products, trends, I've been riding for 18 years and when I decided that I definitely want to work towards my own horse I started researching everything I could to get a grasp on the whole responsibility of your own horse. BUT there's one thing I can't wrap my head around; feed.

Maybe it's the amount of maths, but looking at forums of people discussing their diets, recommended diets, the difference between good doers and hard doers. It's like reading a wizards scroll. I can't get my head around it!

Is there anyone who might be able to explain in the simplest terms how someone figures out whether to feed hard feed and how they know WHAT hard feed to pick, how to calculate hay to grass ratios, etc?

Right now it really does seem like magic to me :rolleyes4:

The simple answer is - NO !

Every horse is an individual with specific needs, and even though there are body weight x feed weight ratios recommended it is still not possible to stick to a formula.

 

[TGM]

Some horses can have very complicated requirements, but actually the majority of horses are quite simple to feed!

My usual approach is to start by feeding ad lib forage unless the horse is actually obese. So this would mean that there is always hay or haylage available when the horse is in the stable, and when out in the field the horse has access to reasonable grazing (and if the grass is poor then hay is put out in the field if that is feasible). For a lot of horses this approach alone is enough for them to maintain their condition, unless they are a poor doer or are working hard. Alongside that you could feed a vit/min supplement or a pelleted balancer, mixed with a little chaff. Only if the horse then starts to lose weight or not have enough energy for the work required do you then really have to worry about giving proper hard feed.

 

[Starzaan]

Some horses can have very complicated requirements, but actually the majority of horses are quite simple to feed!

My usual approach is to start by feeding ad lib forage unless the horse is actually obese. So this would mean that there is always hay or haylage available when the horse is in the stable, and when out in the field the horse has access to reasonable grazing (and if the grass is poor then hay is put out in the field if that is feasible). For a lot of horses this approach alone is enough for them to maintain their condition, unless they are a poor doer or are working hard. Alongside that you could feed a vit/min supplement or a pelleted balancer, mixed with a little chaff. Only if the horse then starts to lose weight or not have enough energy for the work required do you then really have to worry about giving proper hard feed.

This exactly. A thousand times this. To be honest though, I think that a lot of it comes with experience.

 

[Cortez]

This is going to sound glib, but actually it's just common sense: here's the simple bit - if horse is too thin, feed more. If horse is too fat, feed less. If horse is just right, keep feeding the same. Adjust as necessary.

Hay (or grass) = forage, and forage is the basis of all diets for horses, and most leisure horses can be maintained on forage alone (most leisure horses seem to be overweight these days too). Not ALL horses, mind, there are certain types (some TB types, some horses which are working HARD) that will need a grain feed and/or other additions. IME supplements, etc. are there to make the owners feel they are doing something "good". Feeding really is very simple, just learn to look - really look - at your horse and assess.

 

[RideSide]

Thank you for the advice! I was hoping the hay and grass might be a good foundation. I know I'm definitely looking for a fairly large Friesian and from what I could gather they need a lot of fibre and an eye on their copper, but they are good-doers. So hopefully grass and air will be enough to keep them from starving while I work out the kinks.

And at least it's complex and subjective enough for me not to be the only on in the world not to get it haha thank you all so much for taking the time