Horses are pasture animals, therefore, their diet is centered around the grass. In winter, horses consume a large amount of high-quality hay. There are regions where horses in winter extract grass from under the snow, raking it with their hooves. These horses are accustomed to year-round grazing, which cannot be said about the ones living at a horse farm. The amount that the horse can eat depends on the age, weight indicators, and also on how active the horse is. Like all herbivores, the horse’s digestive tract is adapted to the digestion of plant fiber.
Horse feeding is a big part of any equestrian’s life. A horse that is not fed correctly will not gain strength. It will lose weight, and the muscles will start to weaken. So, horse feeding is vital to keep horse health active.
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If the horse doesn’t do very hard work, you will have quite enough grass in the pasture and hay in the winter. All the horse food must be of very high quality. When buying horse feed, always pay attention to the quality of the hay. It should not contain mold, as well as dust, otherwise, it can lead to diseases of the respiratory system of the horse.
To plan a daily diet of a horse, it is important to rely on the horse’s lifestage, activity, age, and many other criteria. Also, the climate and weather conditions of the horses ‘ accommodation are important. To begin with, you can sketch out an approximate schedule for the distribution of food for an adult. According to experts, an adult horse can eat up to 2 tons of oats a year, hay billets should be at least 5 tons, as well as feeding with bran 1.5 tons, juicy feed in the amount of 1 ton. Besides, the animal needs salt, which should be at least 13 kg for 12 months.
The most important parameter that makes up the menu of an adult horse is its weight.
An adult weighing 500-600 kg needs this much food for a day:
hay-10-15 kg; concentrates-4-6 kg; bran-1-2 kg; juicy feed — 2-3 kg.
A working horse
It needs to regularly combine juicy and coarse types of food with concentrates. Also, the health of the horse requires components from premixes and yeast. Most of the diet (about 70%) should be concentrates. Average daily ration of a working horse: hay-7 kg; haylage-7 kg; silage-5 kg; oats-5 kg; premix-50 g; salt-40 g.
Sports horse
In this case, the main parameters for making a diet are active hours, body weight. In general, such a horse needs hay billets, carefully selected concentrates, as well as sweet carrots, high-quality premixes. These animals are better to choose easily digestible food of high quality. Average daily weight of a sports horse: hay — 7 kg (preferably legume-cereal); yellow corn-1-2 kg; herbal flour as a concentrate-1 kg; molasses-500 g; premix-100 g; salt-50-60 g.
Mare
The diet of a nursing or foaling mare involves its subtleties. It is very important in this case to adhere to the advice of experts so that the mare can give decent offspring. The average daily diet of a mare: hay from cereals, legumes – 4 kg of feed for every 100 kg of weight of such an animal; mixed concentrates-oats 40%, barley 35%, yellow corn 25%; cake-no more than 1 kg; vegetable crops (beets and carrots) – about 5-6 kg; silage-4 kg. Before the birth of the stallion, the amount of juicy and coarse feed crops and legumes is significantly reduced.
Colt
For an animal at this stage of life, it is important to get the right substances for growth and development with the mare’s milk. The growing body needs minerals, vitamins, so the owner of the stallion should give him full access to the feeder, where there is salt. The most crucial period in the life of babies is their withdrawal from feeding with their mother’s milk. In general, the daily diet of such an animal should include hay, cereals in a flattened state (oats), wheat bran, cake. Very nutritious and rich for the foal’s body will be sprouted oats ( grains), molasses, as well as the favorite food of horses — carrots. Further, with the help of specialists, you can calculate the needs in the diet of the stallion, which is growing and needs new nutrients for food. The average horse’s menu should always have hay, coarse, green, and juicy feed, as well as feed concentrates, vegetables, and treats.
To understand how to use a particular type of feed for different horses, you need to know the types of feed.
Green food
It is always used in warm seasons. Horses must transition to fresh foods gradually, so as not to upset the digestion. Experts insist that horses should not be given stale grass or vegetation with frost. This type of food includes meadow and pasture; legumes and cereals of the seeded type; root crops from melons and root-tuberous plant crops; all kinds of algae; hydroponic feed. The main value of such feeds is the liquid accumulated in a large volume, in the dried state they retain a lot of nutrients.
Coarse feed
This is mainly meadow hay. It must be high-quality hay, they have a lot of fiber necessary for horses. All herbivorous animal species need this type of coarse feed. The coarse feed includes: Hay obtained after the collection of herbage, legumes, cereals, perennials, and annuals. It is important to distinguish the value of plant crops by their parts. The most valuable are the leaves, the upper parts of the stems, and the blooms.
Haylage, a canned coarse feed is also a good option. This option of harvesting vegetation allows you to save up to 90% of valuable substances and feed components.
Straw, the humidity of which should be at least 20%. A great alternative to the seine. Branch feed, which is collected using thin branches of birches, young maple, flexible aspen, weaving elm, spreading willow, poplar, hazel, needles, etc., Even partially, but still branch feed will become an alternative to hay or straw.
Concentrates
Concentrates supply many essential nutrients. They are indispensable for mares in the state of foaling, nursing mares, young animals, as well as very active horses. The main components of concentrates: oats, barley, beets. The concentrates are intended to supplement the main diet of the horse, which consists of pasture grass and hay. Cereals: nutritious barley and yellow corn, field rye and fresh wheat, oats and millet, and sorghum. Legumes: yellow and green peas, dietary soy, lupine and lentils, beans, and vetch.
Juicy food
This is a type of food that mainly consists of water (70-92 %). Juicy feeds include Silage, canned juicy rich grass. Due to lactic acid bacteria, it creates a special environment that contributes to the preservation of almost all valuable qualities of plants. A distinctive feature of this feed is the level of coarse fiber, but difficult to digest by the horse’s digestive system. Such food is much more nutritious than fresh grass.
Examples: root vegetables, which include sugar beets, raw, steamed potatoes, pumpkin, valuable carrots for young animals.
Favorite treats for many horses are apples, carrots, other vegetables, and fruits. As a mineral supplement, horses are given salt in the amount recommended by the veterinarian. The lack of salt in the horse’s body can lead to the fact that it will lick clay buildings, as well as dirt.
About harmful food for horses
Some plants can be dangerous for horses because of their toxicity. Foxglove, lily of the valley, spotted milkweed, as well as elderberry and milkweed, can cause poisoning of horses. A large amount of clover, as well as sweet clover, can lead to bloating of the intestine. Bran from rice and wheat, fed in large quantities, has the same properties.
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