When
you consider this summer’s poor hay quality and this winter's cold weather
, many readers have
mentioned their struggles with maintaining their horses’ weight.
Here
are some tips.
Many
thanks to Dr. Rachel Flaherty of Maine Equine Associates for her comments and suggestions.
Adding or upping amounts of beet
pulp, alfalfa pellets, alfalfa cubes, hay cubes, hay stretcher pellets are all
good ways to increase calories and nutrition. It’s a great idea to soak all
these feeds, Flaherty told me.
Increasing
grain and/or switching to a more complete feed is good, too.
BUT
care should be exercised whenever you make changes to a horse’s diet. You may
want to consult with your vet about diet changes for your horse, since there
can be many health issues associated with increases in grain, especially.
-
Upping
grain amount can lead to colic (one rescued Waldoboro horse this winter died from colic
when his new owners gave him lots of grain right away)
-
Giving
unsoaked cubes can cause choke in vulnerable horses (those with poor teeth,
those with a tendency to bolt their food, those with a history of choke)
-
Oil
can give some horses diarrhea
-
Horses
with metabolic issues probably aren’t the ribby ones, but still, be careful
when giving these horses a lot of carbohydrate-rich foods.
-
Protein-rich
foods (with a lot of clover and/or alfalfa) can be difficult to digest and give
some animals too much energy, says Flaherty.
Dengie,
Chopped Hay, Forage – those are all terms for chopped grasses, usually
preserved with a bit of molasses and purchased in 50-pound blocks. Some are
mostly timothy. Some are high in alfalfa. Dengie can be a good addition to a
horse’s diet. Again, use care in giving large quantities or making sudden
changes.
I like
CocoSoya oil and have been giving it to my toothless Shetland. I give her a few
ounces per feed and the others get one ounce per feed. Corn oil has been recommended to me, too. It's cheap and you can buy it right off the supermarket shelf.
But
while it’s obviously high in calories, not all horses tolerate oil. They will
tell you by either just not eating it (even when poured on top of grain) OR
having running stool. Use care.
Send
us your tricks for keeping the weight on this winter!
Add your comment!
I am the master chef to my soon-to-be 30 year old quarterhorse. I have had wonderful success with putting on the last 50lbs he needed and maintaining it well! He gets poulin grain complete(contains beet pulp and alfalfa),with some poulin Sr(which contains glucosamine) with soaked beet pulp and alfalfa cubes(heated, of course!).He has his own personal microwave and a a camping cooler to heat and contain his gourmet mixture! I add extra water, oil in the warmer weather, and rice bran with seakelp. The cubes are 1/2 alfalfa, 1/2 timothy, the beet pulp is shredded. He also gets free-choice Lucern farms dengie. I order 50lbs of carrots from our local market weekly(they know me by name and always alert me to the latest sale on carrots!) He only gets the smaller ends, leaving the large parts of the carrots to be cut up for the others! I feed him 5 times daily and he looks fabulous! He cannot eat hay due to the fact he has 3 teeth missing on one side. ( we had a scary choke with him in acadia this fall, so his hay chewing days are over)He can eat grass, so I am praying for spring and lower feed bills! His grocery list is long and it takes alot of time and diligence to feed this boy right! I love every time consuming moment! It is such a reward to see him in excellent condition and still going strong!