Feeding Tips
Short or Long Grass?
Long grass allows a horse to be very picky about what it will eat. Naturally they will go for the sweet, palatable grasses and leave the weeds be. This allows undesirable plants to flourish. Docks and buttercup are a good example of plants that horses will avoid. In Spring and early summer grasses turn their efforts to seed production at the detriment of leaf production. It will soon begin to thin out below, leaves and stalks will start to dry off and die, and the grass becomes rank. This is now an ideal environment for fungi and moulds causing respiratory problems, allergies and toxic reactions. The thinning pasture will also provide spaces for weeds to creep in the following spring.
On the other hand, grass that is overgrazed will be slow to regenerate, leaving pasture full of gaps that invite weeds to spring up. Grass gone to seed and closely grazed pasture also pose a health risk to your horse. Grass founder can come on suddenly and with little warning. It is caused by changes in the soluble sugars in the pasture, particularly in Spring and Autumn or at the break of a drought. Ironically, very short pasture carries the most risk of causing founder. Long grass with seedheads may also be a founder risk as starch is stored in the seed head.
Graze an area and move the horse on. Strip graze and back tape an area if paddocks are too large. Give grazed-down areas time to recover.
Don't let grass go to seed and become rank. Topping pasture or grazing it out with cattle or other stock will help to keep pasture shorter, yet healthy and thick. Horses will always be more relaxed and happier if they have a bigger area to graze and wander around. They can pick out the healthier grass species. Feed good quality hay, ideally soaked in water, if your horse needs more roughage. Don't overgraze or under graze. A grazing muzzle is a good option for overweight animals, as it allows them to move and exercise yet restricts intake. Take care though that your horse is not able to catch them on trees or other objects in the paddock.
What you Need to Know about Bran
Bran is the outer husk of grain and is usually a by product of milling wheat. Bran is a very palatable feed and horses love the taste of bran so it can be a valuable addition to the diet of a fussy horse. However all horse owners need to know that bran must be fed as part of a balanced diet as large amounts fed over time it can cause the skeletal problem known as "big head." Bran's calcium-to-phosphorous ratio is 1 to 12. This is very different from the 1.2 - 2 parts calcium to 1 part phosphorus recommended by nutritionalists for healthy bones. Ideally you must make sure that for every gram of phosphorus you are feeding, you feed AT LEAST an equal amount of calcium (a 1:1 ratio or better), so that calcium isn't being continually mobilized from bones. Bran fed alone will rob the bones of calcium in order to try and restore the right balance. Soft connective tissue will replace the bone giving the horse an enlarged skull.
Bran should only make about 5 to 7 % of the horse's total daily ration. Balance out bran's phosphorous content by feeding it with lucerne or other legume hays or, if feeding meadow hay, by adding 57g of feed-grade limestone to the horse's daily grain ration. Never feed dry bran. Always moisten it to avoid the horse breathing in the flakes.
The laxative properties of bran are sadly a myth, and you are better off warming your horse by upping his feed on a cold day rather than by using a warm bran mash. However bran is a great source of fibre for your horse.
To avoid upsetting the stomach's natural microbe balance introduce bran slowly to the diet and then continue to be consistent when feeding. The old idea of a warm bran mash once a week can do more harm than good.
Pollard:
Pollard is known as a conditioning or weight gaining feed. It is the fine remains of the inner kernel of wheat left after milling. It is higher than bran in energy and crude protein (17-18%) with 3.6% crude fat, but is lower in fibre. The energy level of pollard is approximately equal to that of oats. It should be introduced slowly into the feed ration.
Pollard should always be fed damp and is highly fermentable in the digestive system so should be fed in conjunction with chaff. Pollard has high phosphorous and low calcium levels. It binds calcium, interfering with its absorption, so be careful to never more than 1 kg per day. Add calcium supplements if feeding large quantities in a feed and do not feed large amounts for long periods.
Stable Boredom Busters
- Hang a turnip on a peice of string from the ceiling.
- Place a short but stout branch on the stable floor and let the horse chew the bark. Remove the branch at night.
Buttercup poisoning
Buttercup is toxic to horses. It contains a poison called prouoanemoni that causes blistering on the lips and mouth and, if ingested in large amounts, will cause severe digestive disturbances. Mouth ulsers from eating buttercup may cause bitting problems and head tossing.
Most horses will do all they can to avoid eating buttercup, but is important to make sure there is good pasture or supplements available so they are not forced into eating it. The good news is that buttercup loses its toxicity when it is dried so hay made from pastures containing buttercup are palatable and healthy for your horse to eat.
Feeding sugarbeet
Nutritional value: crude protein 7-10%, crude fiber 34%, MJ DE/KG 10.5, 2.33 Mcals/kg
Sugarbeet is a good feed to give to horses that need fattening up but tend to get 'hot' with other similar high energy feeds such as oats. The sugar beet we feed to our horses is the pulp and fibre left after the sugar has been exracted. It is high in digestible fibre. Mollassed and unmollassed products are available.
Because the sugarbeet has been dried and pelleted it needs to be thoroughly soaked before feeding to your horse. Under-soaked sugarbeet has been known to choke horses. Generally, sugar beet shreds need to be covered in water and soaked for 12 hours, and pellets require 3 measures of water to 1 measure of sugar beet soaked for 24 hours. Follow the directions given with the sugarbeet product you have purchased. Throw out any sugar beet kept longer than a day as it will ferment, especially in warm weather. Drain the excess water from beet pulp before feeding, this will significantly reduce the amount of sugar remaining in it.
Horses can be fed up to 1.8kg dry weight of sugar beet pulp per day. With sugar beet's relatively high calcium and low phosphorus levels, feeding too much can imbalance the calcium to phosphorus ratio in the diet, which could interfere with normal bone development in young horses. Thin, weak bones are more prone to fractruing in adults. Mild deficiencies of both minerals may cause subtle lameness in horses. Excessive dietary calcium can increase the risk of kidney stones in older horses or intestinal stones in horses of any age. Calcium to phosphorus ratios in diets of young horses should be about 2:1, ie. 2 parts calcium to 1 part phosphorus. Wider ratios are tolerated by adults. Grain or grain by-products contain more phosphorus than calcium. In summary, sugar beet should never be fed as a stand alone fodder but is a valuable component of a balanced diet.
