Feed according to work, temperament and condition

Work

• As exercise and work levels increase the horse’s nutritional requirements also go up. Alongside energy and protein, the horse needs more vitamins and minerals too as these have important roles in energy metabolism, as antioxidants and as constituents of tissues.
• If work levels decrease or the horse is on box rest or convalescing, his diet must reflect this change by reducing any cereal based feed and ensuring that plenty of fibre is fed. One of the benefits of using a high fibre diet for a horse in work is that a sudden change to the diet can be avoided even if the horse has to go onto box rest unexpectedly.
• A balanced diet is important for good health regardless of workload. If using straights, less than the recommended quantity of a balanced feed or a feed intended for a lower level of work than the horse is doing, adding a broad spectrum vitamin and mineral supplement such as Performance Vits & Mins or a balancer should provide a balanced diet.

Temperament

• Feed materials will have different levels and types of energy. For example, oil is very high in energy but it is a source of slow release energy and so is useful for horses that need to gain weight but are prone to being over-excitable. Fibre also provides slow release energy but tends to contain much lower levels of energy than oil. Cereals provide quick release energy in the form of starch.
• Sugar is a quick release source of energy for the horse. Although it is often thought to be bad for horses, the greatest source of sugar in the horse’s diet is his natural diet; grass. As this is what the horse has evolved to live on it is no surprise that he can digest and utilise sugar as an energy source quite happily as long as he consumes it in small amounts at a time.

Condition

• A horse should be in good condition; too fat can be just as harmful to health as too thin. A system known as condition scoring is used to determine a horse’s condition. See here for more information on condition scoring.

Age

• Young horses that are growing and developing need more vitamins, minerals and protein to build new tissues. Some will need more energy than others to keep them in good condition. Care should be taken not to supply too much energy as this can result in rapid growth and growth problems. Read here for more about feeding youngstock.
• Older horses may lose condition easily as their digestive system becomes less efficient. They may also have problems chewing forage as their teeth can become loose and wobbly and may even fall out. Short chopped fibre feeds such as Dengie Hi-Fi Senior and soaked feeds such as Alfa Beet can be fed as complete or partial hay replacers to ensure sufficient fibre is fed.