Answers to Common Horse Feeding Questions

While your veterinarian or an equine nutritionist is the best source of information regarding your horse’s individual health and diet, many horse owners turn to search engines to find general information on feeding and caring for horses. Below are some of the most common phrases people use when searching for horse nutrition advice online and suggested articles from the Equinews.com library.

How to feed a horse – Feeding frequency affects various physiological parameters, particularly gastric and intestinal function, as well as behavior. But are these changes important to the health and welfare of the horse? Read more.

How much to feed a horse – Equine nutritionists have formulated feeds and diets for many types of horses. These diets and products are based on National Research Council guidelines built after studying years of nutrition research. Read more.

What is the best horse feed – The nutritional needs of a horse differ significantly throughout the stages of life. The “one concentrate for the whole farm” idea is becoming obsolete as horsemen increase their understanding of feeding horses for optimum performance and health. Read more.

Types of horse feed – Extruded, pelleted, or sweet feeds can all provide energy, and each feed form has other attributes that owners should consider as they look for the best products to suit their animals. Examining the pros and cons of each type of feed can clarify the decision. Read more.

Types of hay to feed horses – Understanding the ins and outs of hay selection is an important aspect of horse ownership. Hay can be classified into three general types: legume, grass, and mixed. Read more.

Horse feeds and what they do – Horses get energy for exercise, growth, and body maintenance from the forage and concentrates they consume. Digestible energy can be provided to horses by four different dietary energy sources: starch, fat, protein, and fiber. Read more.

What to feed horses in the winter – How much hay do you need to buy to get your horses safely through the winter months? To find an answer, you need to know each horse’s approximate weight and also the number of days you will have to provide hay. Read more.

Thoroughbred horse diet – Racehorses must produce one thing–performance–and it requires heaps of energy. While racehorses certainly have a requirement for other nutrients, diet formulation for them usually begins and ends with energy. Read more. (And for the recently retired racehorse, check out this one.)

What to feed an aging horse – Four factors negatively affect the ability of senior horses to stay healthy and maintain proper body condition: decreased nutrient absorption, poor teeth, environmental and herd stress, and disease. Read more.

What to feed horses instead of hay – Forage remains the primary constituent of most well-balanced equine diets, but nowadays it can be proffered in a multitude of forms, from traditional long-stemmed hay to symmetrical cubes. The five most common forage forms are pasture, hay, cubes, pellets, and haylage. Read more.

What is the best thing to feed a horse to gain weight – Increasing the caloric intake of a horse is not problematic if careful attention is paid to the feedstuffs offered to the horse. Manipulation of the amount and variety of energy sources will often achieve the ideal body condition on the hard keeper. Read more.

What should all horses have in their diet – Kentucky Equine Research (KER) has conducted dozens of digestibility trials to evaluate how well various nutrients are absorbed from different types of feeds and feed ingredients. Read more.

What should I feed my horse besides hay – Sometimes forages provide inadequate amounts of the protein, vitamins, and minerals required for the horse’s stage of life or workload. Horse owners can use balancer pellets to meet the horse’s requirements and control the amount of energy supplied to the horse. Read more.

How to feed a horse in Minecraft– Well, you lost us there. (Yes, that was a real question someone asked us. For the record, had we known, we would have responded happily.)

For a custom diet recommendation for your horse, ask the experts at Kentucky Equine Research.