Horse Feed & How Different Kinds Affect Them

Horses need large quantities of grass as forage to sustain good health and weight. Most domestic horses are kept in stalls, pens or dirt lots, which requires hand-feeding several times each day. High-quality hay should be the primary feed for most domestic horses. The addition of processed grains may be needed for some horses. Further, horses with special needs due to metabolic disorders, old age or Cushings disease are another consideration.

  1. Grass Hays

    • Timothy, bromegrass, orchard grass, Kentucky bluegrass and coastal Bermudagrass are some of the most common horse hays. Nutritive value and digestibility of the hay is determined by the soil in which it's grown and harvest time. New spring grass is high in sugar and it is advisable to minimize your horse's consumption to avoid the potentially fatal disorder of intestinal colic. Inflammation within the horse's hooves, known as laminitis may also result, causing lameness and long-term damage.

    Legume Hays

    • Alfalfa, red clover, birdsfoot trefoil and lespedeza are common sources of hay-type roughage fed to horses. Feed these hays in carefully regulated quantities if your horse needs more energy and higher protein, calcium and phosphorous contents. Lespedeza has the lowest protein content of those listed. Introduce these feed sources gradually to prevent diarrhea. Red clover is known to cause some degree of drooling in some horses. Often smaller quantities of legume hays are mixed with grass hay to provide a balanced diet for horses.

    Processed Feeds

    • Oats, barley, wheat, corn, ground soybeans, alfalfa, and added vitamins and minerals are the usual ingredients found in processed grain feeds. Extra energy, vitamins and nutrients for hard-working horses, pregnant or lactating mares, and poor doers constitute the usual purposes in feeding carefully measured amounts of grain to horses, in addition to hay. Care must be taken not to over-feed grains. Hay pellets or cubes provide an alternative to feeding hay. Older horses may do better when fed hay pellets soaked in water.

    Special Needs

    • Horses with metabolic disorders, glucose processing problems known as Cushings disease or with a history of laminitis typically do better on a diet low in sugars and starches. Horses with insulin-resistant tendencies are usually overweight. These horses often lose weight and regain normal glucose and insulin levels once they are put on a low starch and sugar diet, according to equine nutritionist Katie Young, Ph.D.