I'm trying to figure out the feed for one of my horses....and the package says so much feed for a maintnence horse. What is considered a maintnence horse?
2007-01-06 02:16:29 · 17 answers · asked by ZZZ 2 in Pets ➔ Other - Pets
Wow, all of these answers above have sucked except Kimmy's.
There *is* a such thing as a Maintenance horse; no, it's not necessarily a draft, and it is not a horse that does strenuous exercises.
A maintenance horse is a mature horse that does not perform strenuous exercise and is not used for breeding. It might be a show horse if you only do light classes (i.e. halter, pleasure, hunter, etc). You don't need to give them a lot of calories for extra energy or to gain weight, but you also don't want them to lose weight; you are just *maintaining* their current levels.
The main categories of horse, as relates to feeding, are:
Young - still growing, need a lot of calories
Maintenance - don't do much, don't need a lot of calories
Breeding stock - Really only need a lot of calories during certain points of the year (i.e. stallions during breeding season and mares in the last month or so of pregnancy and during lactation)
Senior - Typically need a boost in calories over a maintenance horse because a lot of them are "hard keepers". They also are given softer foods usually that are roughage/complete diets.
Take the answers above with a grain of salt, most of the people that answer questions about horses on here have only seen horses in a calendar or in the books they read in elementary school.
2007-01-06 05:56:30 · answer #1 · answered by Jezebel888 2 · 1⤊ 2⤋
Don't listen to the people who say a maintenance horse is one that does work on the farm, no feed bag would specify the difference between a horse that does yard work or one that gets trail ridden. Maintenance refers to an amount of exercise your horse gets. Look at what the other suggestions your feed bag say for other "types" of horses and use the process of elimination. If it says something about pregnant mares, sport horses, and unridden horses than you can only assume that the maintenance horse is one that recieves adequate excercise.
2007-01-09 17:05:28 · answer #2 · answered by Hon 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I think what you mean is maintenance dosing. Some packages have dosing specifics such as "load-up dose" and "maintenance". The load up dose is the amount of feed or supplement needed to have enough of it in the horse's system to do any good.
For example, the label on a Corta-Flx Powder supplement reads:
Feed with the horse's regular feed. Loading period: Feed 1 oz (2 scoops) daily for the first 10 consecutive days. Optimal maintenance level: Feed 1/2 oz (1 scoop) daily. Minimal maintenance level: Feed 1/4 oz (1/2 scoop) daily.
I hope this helps!!!
2007-01-06 10:34:18 · answer #3 · answered by cb2006 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
it depends... a maintnence horse could be a horse that does alot of work or alot of riding and it can also mean that its an old horse that just needs a little extra feed to maintain its body fat. it all depends on they type/brand of feed you bought. i use a maintenence feed for my older mare (she's 18) just to give her a little extra to help keep a little extra weight on her. when my ranch horses were still doing alot of work around the barns i also gave them a maintnence feed to help keep their energy up.
hope this helps
2007-01-06 10:32:15 · answer #4 · answered by catchick80 2 · 0⤊ 2⤋
its simple if you do alot of work with you horse such as showing or trail riding anything that requires alot of daily activitey you will need to feed your horse more that is a maintence horse. If you horse is just a lawn ornament make sure he has hay and grass at all time and just a handful of feed a day. if you feed a horse too much you run the risk of founder. i dont know what feed you are feeding but we personally use Seminole it is a good brand i hope this helps.
2007-01-06 10:31:40 · answer #5 · answered by dini l 1 · 0⤊ 2⤋
Jezebel's answer is 100% percent correct. How do I know? My husband help develop a lot of the nutrition courses that are now taught in the colleges. Along with body condition scoring. And since he has been doing this type of work for 35 years and has traveled all over the world teaching it, I figure he must know something.
2007-01-06 22:07:39 · answer #6 · answered by Paint Pony 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
A maintenance horse is usually a heavy or work horse. Larger breeds which pull, plow, log or haul heavy wagons. Persierons, clydesdales, Shirehorse, Suffolk, Ardennes, Auxois, Italian heavy draft, poitevin, vladimir, boulonnais, dutch draft, jutland, polish draft, brabant finnish draft, Noriker, Rhenish, Breton, Freiberger, North Swedish, Schleswig-Holstein, Comtois, Gelderland, and South German.
To read more about these types of horses try: www.heavyhorses.co.uk
Hope this helped.
2007-01-06 10:37:21 · answer #7 · answered by danielle Z 7 · 0⤊ 2⤋
depends on the breed,size and confirmation of the horse. is he or she bulkly or skinny. i give all my horse 11% sweet feed everyday . if a horse is pulling or doing alot of activities they will need up to 14% grain a day. a maintence horse is more like your draft breeds. if he is like a tennessee walking or quater horse, he is not a maintence horse. the %'s is for the protein that is in their feed.
2007-01-06 10:40:32 · answer #8 · answered by sam65 1 · 0⤊ 2⤋
I don't think there's any such thing as a "maintenance" horse.
I think that you either misread the label or it's a misprint.
It's probably meant to say "as much feed as needed for maintenance," or in other words whatever is necessary to keep your horse in good condition.
2007-01-06 10:31:11 · answer #9 · answered by Redneck Crow 4 · 0⤊ 2⤋
A possession that requires an unusual amount of maintenance(IE...car, wife or girlfriend). Or a yard work horse on a farm or ranch.
2007-01-06 10:19:09 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋