It’s true that older horses can benefit from natural sources of vitamins. Good quality grass-legume pastures and hays can supply adequate nutrients to maintain an adult horse. Late fall- and winter-pasture forage may require protein and vitamin A supplementation. Moldy or dusty feeds should be avoided because horses are extremely susceptible to forage poisoning and respiratory complications.
What Natural Vitamin Sources Benefit Older Horses?
While the specific nutrient requirements of horses are not fully understood, they can usually be supplied economically from pasture forage, harvested roughages, and concentrates. Good quality grass-legume pastures, in addition to iodized or trace-mineralized salt, will supply adequate nutrients to maintain an adult horse at light work or mares during pregnancy.
How Can Pasture Grasses Help Horses?
Foals will eat some pasture grass, forage, or hay when they are three days old and grain when they are three weeks old. Lush, early spring pasture is very high in water and protein contents and may need to be supplemented with a high-energy source, such as grain, to meet the needs of horses performing medium to heavy work. Conversely, late fall- and winter-pasture forage is low in water and protein and may require protein and vitamin A supplementation.
What Type of Hay is Best for Horses?
High-quality legume hays, such as early bloom alfalfa, are preferred for horses, especially those that are growing or lactating. Grass hays, such as timothy, prairie grass, orchard grass, and bluegrass, were preferred by early horsemen, especially for race horses, because they were usually free from mold and dust and tended to slow down the rate of passage through the intestinal tract. These hays are low in digestible energy and protein, however, and must be adequately supplemented.
Are There Any Feeds That Should Be Avoided?
Moldy or dusty feeds should be avoided because horses are extremely susceptible to forage poisoning and respiratory complications. Silages of all sorts should be avoided since horses and mules are extremely susceptible to botulism and digestive upsets.
What Else Should I Know About Feeding Horses?
Horses will vary from the normal requirement in terms of weight, temperament, and previous nutrition. A large and ever-growing number of horses stabled in cities and suburbs where sufficient roughages cannot be grown provide a large market for complete horse rations, including roughage, which are tailored to the total needs of specific animals according to their particular function at a given time, such as growth, pregnancy, lactation, or maintenance. Oats are the preferred grain for horses because of their bulk. Corn (maize), barley, wheat, and milo can be used, however, whenever they are less expensive. Weanling foals require three pounds of feed per hundred pounds of live weight per day; as they approach maturity, this requirement drops to one pound of feed per hundred pounds of live weight daily. Horses normally reach mature weight at less than four years of age and 80 percent of their mature weight at less than two years of age.
Feeding horses can be complex, but understanding the basics can ensure your horse gets the nutrients it needs.
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