People who understands equine nutrition; please help

[Saxon_Jasmine]

(Title should read 'understand', not 'understands')

Good evening.

I have been doing some feed research as it interests me, and have found out what feeds contain what, good value for money feeds, etc.

Everybody seems to know how much in total to feed their horse, and what to increase for weight gain, etc. But my question is, how much of specific ingrediance are you supposed to feed?

I feed fibre for slow release energy and because it's good for them, protien for muscle gain, a balancer for extra vits and mins, and a calmer for anxiety. This is all fine, but how do I know if I'm feeding the correct amounts of these things?

Does anyone know how much protien and oil is reccomended for a 15.2hh, 9 yr old TB in light work. Currently just up to weight but has no topline. Poor doer.

Next question, how much of these vitamins and minerals would the above horse require, and what are their functions?
Ash
Calcium
Phosphorus
Selenium
Zinc
Maganese
Cobalt
Copper

Thank you

 

[jenni999]

Most of the feed companies have done the hard work for you in terms of vits and mins. As long as you feed the specified amount, they should be getting what they need. But I have never been able to feed the specified amount without my horse going loopy.

I use Top Spec balancer and then everything else my horse gets is fibre and oil. Hi-Fi, speedi beet and Top Spec, that's it. Using a balancer means I can feed nothing else in the summer when he has grass and I just top up with fibre in the winter. I hunt my horse twice a month on that diet.

 

[touchstone]

The only way to truly balance a ration is to have your forage and grazing analyzed and then supplement to replace anything lacking.
An off the shelf balancer may contain all the vits/mins, but unless your horse is actually lacking something then they are a waste and you could be feeding more than needed of certain things.
http://www.forageplus.com/ does an analysis and formulates a diet specific to your horse which is a better way to go I think.

 

[TGM]

I'll try and keep this as brief as possible.

If you want to make sure that your horse is getting enough fibre then ensure he gets adliib hay/haylage/decent grazing. Obviously, you have to also ensure the horse's teeth are OK so it can eat the forage in the required amounts, and that he/she is not getting bullied if hay/haylage is fed in the field.

Experts seem to differ a bit on protein levels, but for a working adult horse the guide seems to be around 10-12% protein in the diet AS A WHOLE - ie including the forage. Hay can vary in protein a lot - but medium quality hay is usually about 8% protein, so a lot of concentrate feeds and balancers are relatively high in protein to boost the overall protein level of the diet.

If you are feeding a balancer, then feed the amount recommended by the manufacturer if you are wanting to get the right amount of nutrients. The only exception would be if you were feeding another supplemented feed as well, such as most nuts and mixes. If you are feeding, for example, half the recommended amount of a mix, then you can reduce the balancer to half dose, as otherwise you will double up on vit/mins.

With regard to your question about minerals, these will be included in your balancer, so you don't have to worry too much about knowing the precise amounts. I should point out though that 'ash' is not actually an individual mineral itself. The 'ash' content of a feed is the inorganic content - ie ash is what is left of a feed after it has been heated to a very high temperature and all the organic matter has been burned off.

One subject you haven't asked about is that of calories or 'digestible energy', which is important to bear in mind when you have a poor doer. If your horse consumes fewer calories than he uses up then he will lose weight, if he consumes more than he uses, then he will gain weight. Often poor doers don't have huge appetites, so it make sense to feed higher calorie feeds. Calorie content is expressed as MJDE/kg and should be found on the bag or on the manufacturer's website. High Fibre Cubes, for example, are a relatively low calorie feed and are usually about 8 or 9 MJDE/kg. Most conditioning cubes and mixes are about 12 MJDE/kg or higher.

It is really difficult to give set rations for individual horses because you don't know the content of their grazing or hay/haylage. If you are really concerned with getting it right, you can actually get this analysed and there are also firms that will formulate vit/min supplements for you based on analysis of your grazing/forage.

I find it better to feed by eye and use a weigh tape once a week to see whether the horse is losing, maintaining or gaining weight and adjust the diet accordingly. What balancer are you feeding and what else are you feeding alongside it?

I would also recommend getting a good book on equine nutrition, because it is difficult to explain things in detail in a short post! I would recommend Sarah Piller's 'Practical Feeding of Horse & Ponies'.

 

[Saxon_Jasmine]

TGM -

Thank you very much for that. I think I will get a nutrition book as it is a subject that really interests me. I have a University module on equine nutrition starting next week so will probably learn it then too.

I have made a comparison of all the feeds I'd use from most companies, and it is very interesting to see what is in them. For example, I pay £14 for a bag of Alfa A Oil, when I could actually feed an Alfalfa feed from another company that is cheaper and contains more of the 'good stuff'.