He recently has developed ulcers and had a recent gas colic. We feed him soaked beet pulp with a purina senior pellet feed 3 times per dy. My questons are: does the beet pulp count as forage and how do we determine the weight given the amount of water used to soak the beet pulp. We are struggleing with putting weight on him.
He is having trouble chewing, so we have floated his teeth always twice yearly and are giving him alphalpha cubes soaked. He is getting an ok amount of grazing. To summarize we are struggleing with being sure he is getting the right amount of forage and grain. Hello Bill, Great questions. For weighing the beet pulp, weigh it out before you soak it, and use that number in your calculations.
It does not count as forage, so make sure to keep that separate. Good luck with him! FYI, ask your vet about floating teeth so much on an older horse. After age 20, the amount of tooth surface left to erupt is dwindling, and unless your horse develops bad points, or quids his hay, floating really should be cut back to as little as every other year.
Otherwise, before you know it your horse will have no tooth left to erupt and will not be able to chew. All food will have to be soaked after that. Just speaking from experiences. Muscle, hoofs, skin, coat etc they need their minerals as we do. Their hay is ALL gone but My point is I want to give this new one his minerals without weight gain though the winter. Should I use another type?
Age 10, Thanks for your time. Keep up the great work! You realize, many persons are searching round for this info, you could aid them greatly. Hi, I was wondering how much to give my horse of the sunshine pellets? He gets 2 cups pf grain in the morning and evening. I have not started him riding yet this year. We also recommend weighing it out — a fish scale or kitchen scale both work well for weighing feed — so you know the weight of feed your scoop holds.
I have a question. I just got a 22 year old tb gelding. Twice daily he gets 4. I also mix in one ounce of cool calories and 1 scoop of a joint supplement.
How does this sound? Any advice would be greatly appriciate. Hi Kayle, Great question. It sounds like you have a large horse and are on the right track, but may need to increase the feed a bit.
If your horse needs to gain weight then you will have to increase the calorie intake per day above the current level that your horse is being feed. You can feed for gain at faster rates or slower rates depending on how many calories you increase in the diet per day. The recommended amount of our SafeChoice Senior when fed with hay is 6.
Horses needing to gain weight will need on the higher side of the recommended amount or higher than the recommended amount to get the weight on. Because your horse needs to gain around lbs I recommend feeding above the recommended amount at around 11 — 12 lbs a day or so. You can also add our high fat supplement called Empower Boost and it can be added at a rate of 1 — 3 lbs a day to help put on weight.
It is best to choose high fat supplements that are packed with other nutrients and not empty calories. Some high fat supplements in oil and powder form are not packed with other added nutrients. The recommended amount of SafeChoice Senior without hay and using senior as the sole ration is Sounds like your horse has a good amount of time on pasture and hay. If you have not already done so I recommend being sure your horse is chewing hay properly and not dropping balls of hay.
If your horse is having trouble chewing hay then it is time to start using more senior in the diet and as a sole ration when he can no longer chew hay well. It is a great idea to weigh your hay to see how many pounds your horse is getting and consuming. Your horse should get around 20 — 26 lbs of hay a day and this would include other roughage in the diet such as pasture and beet pulp.
Beet pulp is a great source of fiber that will add some calories to the diet. However, beet pulp is not well balanced on its own and is low in mineral content and amino acids so it does need balanced with other nutrients.
Beet pulp does not replace a nutritionally prepared feed such as SafeChoice Senior so you want to be sure to feed the senior within the recommended amount to get the full nutritional benefits.
Please let us know if you have more questions and we will be happy to help! Is that to much? Hello Cynthia, Great question. If your mare is underweight, then that is a sign that she either needs more, or else the same amount of a higher calorie diet.
Thus far, our discussion has only looked at caloric needs. Different grains are better balanced nutritionally than others.
Some horse owners feed whole oats because that is what their families have done for generations. Other owners feed corn-based sweet feed, while still others seek out whole grain concentrates.
Calcium Ca and phosphorus P are important nutrients to consider in the equine diet. Other nutrients are also important, but calcium and phosphorus are critical. A good Ca:P ratio should range from to The entire diet grass, hay, grain and supplements should favor more calcium than phosphorus.
Different hays do a decent job of staying close to the healthy range. Alfalfa will have higher calcium levels 4. However, as shown above, hay does not provide enough calories for high-level athletes. Grains are a great source of calories, but pure grains can unbalance the diet.
For example, oats and barley have an inverted Ca:P ratio of , while corn runs ! Protein is the third factor to consider in a hay-based diet. Too much dietary protein may lead to respiratory illness in stabled horses as a result of excess protein excreted through the urine. Thus, whether or not your horse needs protein supplementation depends on the protein content of the hay. For this reason, many horse owners have their hay tested. Careful selection of supplemental feeds must meet caloric needs as well as keep the Ca:P ratio balanced, and provide the right amount of protein.
For most horses, grain is best as a treat, a little snack that creates a bonding experience with the owner. By keeping the above pointers in mind, this little snack does not need to disrupt the diet. Log in to leave a comment. Click here to view our current issue of Equine Wellness Magazine. An email will be sent to you with each new issue that is published.
Interested in a print subscription? Click Here. Thank You! Perform any additional tasks liking a Facebook page, captioning a photo, submitting a story, etc. University Blvd. Hard copy photos must have contact information on the back. All photos become property of Redstone Media Group. Sprinkling or dunking dusty hay in water can reduce dust. Avoid feeding moldy or dusty hay.
In the field, heavy rain can break off drying hay leaves and leaches energy and protein from the hay. Hay baled before it is dry enough will lose nutrients through fermentation, or heating in the bale. This sometimes starts fires through spontaneous combustion in barnyard stacks of stored, baled hay. This type of hay is unacceptable for horses. Good pasture or grass that an animal can graze can be an economical food for horses, but pasture must be maintained. If animals are allowed to graze on a pasture too long, the grass may be killed.
Well-managed pastures reduce feed costs and provide energy, protein, vitamins and minerals to animals. An exercise lot with a few blades of grass is not a pasture; such a lot, or overgrazed pasture, is not a source of nutrients and can be a serious source of internal parasites. When a grass stand becomes too thin, overgrown, coarse or unappetizing to a horse, it should be clipped or mowed.
Lush pasture forages can act as a laxative in early spring and may cause founder. Introduce horses gradually to pastures by slowly increasing their daily grazing time. Small grains, such as corn, oats and barley, are known as concentrates. Concentrates are lower in fiber and higher in energy than roughages. The grain should be clean, mold- and insect-free, with a bright color.
Grain quality is just as important as hay quality. Grains may be cracked, steamed or rolled, but, if ground too finely, may cause respiratory problems or colic. Oats are the safest and easiest grain to feed with hay because it is high in fiber and low in energy, and higher in protein than corn. Corn has the highest energy content of any grain and can put weight on a horse quickly. It can be fed on the ear, cracked, rolled or shelled.
Barley is an intermediate source of energy and protein content. All grains are low in calcium, but high in phosphorus. Protein and vitamin-mineral supplements are added to the diet to increase the diet's concentration. Grains are energy supplements to a high forage diet. Only add supplements to the diet if something is missing. Some protein supplements are oilseed meals, soybeans, cottonseed, linseed flaxseed meal, peanut meal, sunflower seed meal and rapeseed canola.
Vitamin and mineral supplements should only be added to the diet if the horse is deficient. Generally, the only minerals of concern in feeding horses are calcium, phosphorus and salt. In some geographical areas, lack of selenium and, in growing horses, copper and zinc, is a concern. Other minerals are likely to be present in adequate amounts in a normal diet. Concentrated mixes are cereal grains with supplements added to increase the specific nutrient content of the mix.
A complete feed is a grain mix that is high in fiber because it contains a forage or high-fiber byproducts feed such as hulls. Complete feeds are held together, usually by extrusion puffed up like dog food or by forming into pellets. If you are feeding a commercial complete feed, you will not need to feed hay follow the label for feeding recommendations.
There are also feeds for specific classes of horses. Some feeds are specially formulated for young, growing horses weanlings and yearlings ; and for geriatric aged horses that are old and have specific nutritional needs. Some commercial feed companies make pre-mixed, convenient, easy-to-use formulated feeds for horses that are on different hay diets such as grass or alfalfa.
You should not need to add any other supplements to the diet. These feeds may be more expensive than developing your own ration, but they are good for the owner who does not want to spend time to research their horse's diet.
Nutrient requirements for different horse. The nutrient requirements of a horse vary with its age, weight and the amount of work it performs. Good quality hay is sufficient feed for a mature horse that is ridden very little. With an increase in work, grain should be added to its diet. Approximate Amounts 1, -pound horse , all hay and grain should be of good quality.
Only a horse that is worked extremely hard would ever receive half of its ration in grain. A racehorse in heavy training is an example of a horse requiring half of its ration in grain.
So never feed your pleasure horse more than it needs. Younger horses require special rations, talk to your veterinarian. There are many books available to show you how to balance a horses' ration or contact your local Penn State Extension Educator for help. When balancing or evaluating a ration, use the National Research Council tables as a guideline to determine available nutrients to meet your horse's requirements. When you balance a ration: Determine the age, weight and level of activity or work of the horse, and determine the actual nutrient content of the available feed by sending your feed to a commercial feed-testing laboratory follow the direction in the article above.
Contact your local Penn State Extension Educator for the name of the laboratory nearest you. The horse's daily nutrient ration needs will vary due to age, activity or performance level, health status, and, in broodmares, stage of pregnancy or lactation. Estimates of dietary requirements can be found in a variety of publications, such as the National Research Council's Nutrient Requirements of Horses , 6th Edition NRC, , in extension websites.
Once you determine a horse's requirements, then analyze your hay and feeds for what nutrients they provide. This determines if you're feeding program meets or exceeds the horse's needs. There are a variety of websites that allow you to make the calculations automatically or provide step-by-step instructions. An example of one:. Always be careful not to create an excess of other nutrients when increasing feed ingredient levels.
Excesses of some nutrients can inter-act with other nutrients. For example, excess calcium can prevent complete utilization of phosphorus. Check National Research Council tables for calcium to phosphorus ratios; however, a good rule of thumb is a ratio. Metabolic disorders, such as laminitis, osteochondrosis and epiphysitis, stem from an imbalance in nutrients. Many disorders can be avoided by giving your horse a balanced ration.
Remember, each horse has to be fed as an individual. Feed an amount that is adequate to maintain a body condition similar to that of an athlete.
The National Research Council requirements are suggested values; individual horses may require adjustments to these nutrients. Constantly assess the body condition of your horse.
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