The care given to your horse daily, is extremely important to have a healthy, happy horse. And, it can also be very confusing. On this page, we hope to provide you with informative research everyone needs in planning, implementing your horses daily needs.
Basic Daily Needs
Water
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Equine Care
Nutritional Needs Of Your Horse
Understanding the nutritional needs of your horse is not a difficult and complicated matter.
There are four basic nutrient groups—carbohydrates, protein, minerals and vitamins—are all required in varying amounts by horses for maintaining proper nutrition.
Horses lives are different, there are horses who rest, work (riding), pregnant horses, nursing horses, and growing babies. All have very different needs.
The best source of horse nutrition information is the National Research Council. The council's recommended requirements are the studied judgments of a committee of respected horse nutritionists. The recommendations in there bulletin are based on information provided through the National Research Council.
Horses have small stomachs and short intestines, therefore, they cannot handle large amounts of grain at one time. Horses should be fed frequently, but in small amounts (3+ times daily).
Horses cannot vomit. This means that whatever a horse eats - whether it be oats, molasses, moldy hay, or rusty nails - it must go all the way through his digestive system. This inability to vomit is the most common reason colic is a big problem with horses.
The general rules for feeding your horse daily are:
1. Horses that work on a regular basis need about 5 to 10 lbs of grain per day. Feed more to a horse that is worked harder or more often. Feed less to horses that don’t work and just hang around. The size of your horse will determine the amount. The quality of the grain you are feeding also plays an important roll in the amount you feed. Read the labels on your grain bags!Oats are standard grain feed and are usually rolled or tracked to assist digestion. Corn is also commonly found in feed mixtures, since it is a good source of energy and fat. Salt is a necessity for horses as well as humans. Approximately one to two ounces should either be added to feed (make sure the feed doesn't already contain salt) or make available in a block form. Molasses is usually added to feed mix as flavor and a sugar source. Trace minerals such as calcium, potassium, phosphorus, magnesium, and iodine are necessary for life and must be provided for in the feed. A good, quality, commercial feed mix should contain a balanced portion of all these nutrients. With such a feed mix, the horse owner need only worry about how much and when to feed his horse - everything else is covered for him. However, you should always offer a free-choice trace mineral block and salt block in your horses stall and pasture.
2. When feeding hay, give about 1 lb of hay per 100 pounds of body weight. Again, this will vary on the amount of work your horse gets. The quality and type of hay is very important. 3. Fresh water. Horses require from 5-15 gallons of water on an average day. 50% of an adult horse's body is composed of water, and 80% of a foal's body. Water can kill a horse if taken at the wrong times, so care must be taken in watering horses. A horse should never be given cold water after a hard, sweaty workout. The horse should be walked out first and allowed to cool down and then given water. Make sure the horse's breathing and body temperature has returned to normal. If given water to drink after a hard, sweaty workout, it is best to allow for just a few sips, then walk the horse to cool him out more before returning to drink more water.
The best way to water a horse is to have water available at all times. This way the horse should never be so thirsty that he would gulp large amounts of cold water that his body can't handle. When it is impossible to have water regularly available, the horse should be given water as frequently as possible. Keep in mind that a horse's stomach can only hold about 8-17 quarts, so water and feed should be given frequently in small quantities.
