Essential Feeding Guidelines for Horses
When feeding horses, it is essential to adhere to certain feeding guidelines to ensure you meet the nutritional requirements needed. Horses are unique in their needs as opposed to other livestock such as cattle, hogs, sheep, or any other species. If you are a horse owner be sure you feed your horse the correct feed according to its lifestyle. If it’s a performance horse you should not feed it with what a non-working or pleasure horse would be fed. The same goes for senior horses and growing horses. Each stage needs different nutritional values.
For many owners knowing how much to feed their horse can be very intimidating. It is important to know how much to feed your horse. Knowing the correct amount of feed to give your horse is essential in its growth process. The first thing is to measure your horse’s body weight. You can do this with a weight tape, a scale, or with the formula.
BW(lbs) = Heartgirth (in) x Heartgirth (in) x Body length (in) divided by 330
(The heartgirth is measured as the circumference over the withers and around the barrel; the body length is measured from the point of the shoulder to the point of the buttocks)
After you find the weight, this will help in reading the feeding guidelines on the labels on feed bags. Don’t forget that you must weigh the feed to make sure your horse is getting the same amount of feed every time. Don’t weigh it by volume which new owners make this mistake. You need to consider that different feeds have different caloric and nutritional values.
Do’s and Don’ts
- Don’t overfeed grain
- Do feed adequate roughage
- Don’t dilute balanced rations
- Do use only top-quality feeds
- Don’t supplement balanced rations
- Do feed at the same time every day
- Don’t make sudden feed changes
- Do provide clean water
- Do exercise your horse regularly
- Do check for parasites
- Do practice regular checkups with your veterinarian
Stampede Premium’s Pellets and Hay Cubes products have feeding guidelines that help you determine the right nutrients needed to help your horse perform at its peak. Stampede Premium has been offering the best quality equine hay and equine products since 1995.