Horses don’t just eat hay. Large amounts of their diet also consist of cereal feeds, vitamin supplements, feed mixes, and more. Let’s get a behind-the-scenes look at the science that goes into feeding our horses.
What do Horses eat?
Horses eat approximately 3% of their body weight each day. Depending on the horse, this can come from natural sources, such as grass, but it can also come from unnatural sources, such as packaged feed.
There are two main types of feeds: forages and concentrates. Forages, also known as “roughage”, includes grass-like plants. Types of forage include grass, hay (dried grass), and beet pulp (a substance left over from sugar beet that is high in fiber and energy). The concentrates include grains (such as maize, barley, oats, wheat, and bran), pellet mixes, and vitamin supplements.
There are two main types of feeds: forages and concentrates. Forages, also known as “roughage”, includes grass-like plants. Types of forage include grass, hay (dried grass), and beet pulp (a substance left over from sugar beet that is high in fiber and energy). The concentrates include grains (such as maize, barley, oats, wheat, and bran), pellet mixes, and vitamin supplements.
Research Labs
Many horse feed companies have research labs where they test horses to learn more about the equine body. Purina Mills, the leading horse feed company in the United States, is home to one of the world’s largest horse research facilities. It has treadmills for horses to run on that help scientists learn about equine perspiration (sweat) levels, joint movement, and other tests pertaining to horse diet and exercise, as well as many other state-of-the-art machinery and technology. Because of their breakthrough research, horses are living longer than they were 20 years ago.
More and more equine feed companies are changing their feed mills and production rooms to make them friendlier towards the environment. Spillers horse feeds uses natural light in all of their rooms when the sun is bright to reduce energy use, has made sure that their mills are low-risk pollution sites, and has even increased the air quality in the last few years.
More and more equine feed companies are changing their feed mills and production rooms to make them friendlier towards the environment. Spillers horse feeds uses natural light in all of their rooms when the sun is bright to reduce energy use, has made sure that their mills are low-risk pollution sites, and has even increased the air quality in the last few years.
Chow Time
Horse feed comes in so many different varieties that it’s often difficult to choose which one to use! There are specialized feeds for older horses, horses prone to specific diseases, horses with joint problems, easy keeper horses (horses that gain weight easily and can stay healthy with small amounts of food), and even foals. Before buying milled feed for your horse, consult your vet or trainer. The feed needs of each horse vary drastically from animal to animal.
This information was taken from the article Behind the Scenes: Horse Nutritionists from the Spring 2012 issue.