This week’s topic is about nutrition! So what is nutrition? Well it’s giving or eating food to help you grow and be healthy, and this applies to everything, animals, humans and plants.
So what’s the best thing to feed your horse? Well I think the less is best! We have domesticated these beautiful creatures, and they’re used to living off grass and getting their vitamins and minerals from the ground. If we just have them on by-products, or pellets only, we could potentially stuff up their stomach, and we would have an unhappy horse!
I personally try and keep my ponies’ diet as simple and as plain as possible, only adding some vitamins and minerals to help her recover from her doing performance work, and also help have a better gut. So what’s a simple diet you may ask, or what do I classify as I simple diet? Have a look below at my food plan so you can get a better idea about a simple diet!
Well besides having my pony on pasture 2-3 hrs a day, I also do morning and night feeds
Morning feed is oaten chaff and one supplement (normally rosehip to help her joints). Chaff is 1 scoop wet down before I give a small slither of hay wet or dry an 1hr before I ride. Now I do change this routine up every now and then, some mornings she will go out very early onto the grass before coming back in to be ridden, this all depends on my work schedule and use of the arena.
2 carrots a day is a must! Whether they are in work or not, as 2 carrots a day supply them with their daily Vitamin C and Antioxidants.
Dinner is very similar.
Oaten chaff, 1 vitamin and 1 mineral for the gut and 1 mineral for her overall health and calmness.
And I sprinkle a small amount of Hygain Balanced. This stuff is amazing and has helped my pony a lot.
HYGAIN BALANCED is a pelleted all-round, low dose balancer feed that provides high levels of Vitamin E and Selenium for cell health, Biotin for hoof and coat health, Chelated Minerals, quality protein and essential amino acids for muscle development. This pellet can be fed to both horses and ponies.
I personally have had trouble finding a good feed for ponies both past and present, and so far Hygain Balanced has had the best results, and it’s affordable. I’m not spending hundreds each month in feed; also a bonus when you have horses!
Last thing for the night dinner is night hay, this normally is oaten hay or mixed hay, in a wetted down, and placed in a hay net and given between 7-8pm.
Now please bear in mind I do adapt if I can’t get a certain chaff or hay I just change the rations slightly or add another form of nutrient to their diet.
TIPS & FACTS
- Pasture and ponies
Majority of ponies on pasture they over exceed their daily intake of grass, and can put on 1kg a day if on pasture for more then 5 hours.
This is why monitoring of ponies and horses on pasture is important, we need to reduce the risk of laminitis, founder or colic etc. so reduced pasture times is a good thing! - A good tip I learnt is do your research on your horses foods and supplementsm and give the manufacturer of the product a call, and have a discussion. 9 times/10 they are more than happy to help you and supply you with information.
- Another good tip I found was Feed XL. You can add horses’ feed into a graph and get it analysed, and see if your over or under feeding, what minerals and vitamins your horse maybe missing out on etc. It’s a good website, and the staff that run it are super friendly, and are happy to help you in explaining your results, or suggesting a potential supplement that can balance your horses diet. https://feedxl.com/
- Get a friend’s or coach’s opinion on what they think the horse may need, show them your feed plan or current feed, and explain why you think you need to change feed.
Remember this is a learning experience for you and your four-legged companion enjoy it and make some every lasting memories.
Feature Image and Article Image courtesy of A & H Photography ©
-Amylie May Hines Guest Blogger.