Thoughts on Equine Nutrition

[horsearcher]

I do not quite have this journal in shape for public consumption.  Yes, I know, I suck, but . . .it happens. ;)  That said, I still have things to write (wasn't that eloquent?).  So, we are going to start with my thoughts on h a fairly hotly contested and often confusing topic: Equine Nutrition.

I'll state the obvious: owning a horse is hard.  Yes,

Comments

[lurath]

Sorry, I started writing this and realized it's unsolicited advice. Feel free to ignore or poke me in the eye

[horsearcher]

She's 975 now; bulky lady. ;) I was told 1% of body weight for forage and when I do feed more than the 11 pounds, she does not eat it all.

Also found the high-starch grains make her flaky so went low-starch, high-protein and suddenly there was a brain in the head!

So, I forgot another element: trial and error. I always love advice, so have at it. I never know when Today's Formula needs to be tweaked into Tomorrow's Formula. So damn complicated, even when simple. ;)

[lurath]

Silly horse, not cleaning up her hay! What kind of hay is it, because 1% is not accurate for many grass hays, and especially not if they are in work. Orchardgrass is one of the richer grass hays, timothy less so. I hear good things about bermuda grass, but I've never seen that sold anywhere!

Yeah, if you ever want to hear me rant about grains/starches, you should prod me :P

I would recommend figuring out how much protein she is actually getting though, because it's not a nutrient horses need much of and it can harm them if fed in the excess.

[horsearcher]

I would say 75% Timothy, 25 % Orchard. The field it was harvested from grew both and it was baled together. There is also a variety here called Valley Grass, which is great for easy keepers, I hear.

I'll check the protein content on the grain and adjust it to her alfalfa ration. (I keep the tags.) I almost prefer she have more alfalfa and less grain, as it works well with the oils I add too.

Of course, I am also paranoid because Bonnie fed her so much I swore I was going to roll her out of her stall one day. So, I tend to be all around paranoid. I know this will improve when we both live through this winter. ;)

[ornerie]

every horse is different....what you describe is pretty much dead opposite from what it takes to keep Raj healthy. *shrug*! Took me a good year to figure it out and as you say, pretty constant tweaking. I am assuming that as he ages further, things will change more :)

PS....quite the quarter horse butt Chance has! :D