Does a horse need supplements?

Question

Does a horse need supplements and grain? Or can it do everything that horse being fed these does?

Answer 1

Horses definitely need grain, but a supplement isn't always needed. If you just have your horse for pleasure, only feed it a supplement if it is pregnant, old, a foal, or unhealthy in some way. Old means like 19+, where he needs weight kept on. The other reason for supplements would be if the horse is used for competitive purposes, such as regular jumping, eventing, or racing.

Answer 2

It depends. There are about a million supplements on the market for a million different things. If you own a horse that gets worked a lot, then yes, you might want to keep him on some sort of regular daily grain ration. Grain has added nutrition and fat so it can help a horse maintain a healthy weight, or sometimes a little too healthy. If it's a pony, they are often fine without any grain because most tend to gain weight very easily, even those on a regular exercise program. I feed my horses a pelleted grain that is fairly high in protein. I prefer this form because if it's something that is commercially produced, you already know it is a balanced ration. (Thus in each grain ration the horse is getting proper nutrients.) I don't like separate feeds as much because even though many are balanced, if there is a particular substance in the feed the horse does not like, he could eat around it and not get the beneficial nutrients from it, leading to a deficiency and a sick horse.
Supplements are a whole other topic. Most horses that are "high performance horses" will be on some kind of supplement, either for their joints, extra energy, and so on. If your horse wears shoes and has trouble keeping them on, or just has a weak hoof wall, there are supplements that can help promote healthy growth of the hoof. If you live in an area where it is know that there is a certain deficiency in the soil and all grass grown in that area is lacking in that substance, there are vitamin and mineral supplements as well. Mostly it just depends on each individual horse. Not every horse needs the same amount of food to stay at a healthy weight, not every horse needs grain, and not every horse needs a supplement. To help decide what is right for your horse, you should take a look at the age of your horse- youngsters sometimes need grain to help grow healthy bones ect. Sometimes older ones need joint supplements (sometimes younger ones too). You should also ask yourself if your horse is a pasture ornament or does he work? If he works, how much, how hard, and how often? Also, does he have any known health problems, or appear to have one? There are a hundred different ways to feed your horse properly. If he is on pasture only, it must be an extremely high quality grass that is out there, and plenty of it with little to no weeds. If there is not enough nutritious grass in the pasture, you can run into tons of problems, including malnutrition. Also, if your horse is not on grain now and you choose to start adding grain to his diet, start with a very small amount- about 1 handful morning and night. You can gradually increase it as needed (a change in feed should be made over at least two weeks depending on how significant the change). If you start feeding him a lot of grain all at once, he could colic or founder- neither of which is good.

Answer 3

If the grass the horse is eating is VERY good grass then no supplements are needed. If the grass has a good Ph balance and the minerals are balanced, the horse will have everything it needs.

However, if the horse isn't on grass (Not a good situation.), or if the grass isn't appropriate, then the right supplements are necessary. Grain is not unless the horse is either a very high performance horse, or if the grain is needed to mix supplements into. But, if the supplements are what the horse needs, he will eat it like candy so you don't have to mix supplements. Horses are funny how they always know exactly what they need.

ABC supplements are good for a horse that isn't on perfect grass. I also recommend Dynamite Marketing. They are both more natural approaches that give a horse what he wants and needs.

The right kind of grain is essential if a horse needs it. Black sunflower seeds, steamed oats, and barley. With balance of 2 scoops of sunflower seeds, 3 scoops of the oats, and 3 scoops of barley all put into a bin. A horse only should have about a handful of this mixture a day unless they are very high performance horses that need the extra energy.

Never use sweet feed or beet pulp. Bad bad bad! It's just sugar and chemicals really wreck a horse's system.

Answer 4

In the winter we feed our horses a good quality hay and sweet feed usually 12 percent, so the horse will have protein during those cold months. During the summer, as long as they have green pasture they should be fine. Just a little sweet feed every now and then to keep them coming to you. You should also base how you feed your horse on how you work your horse.
heres a website that kinda gives you an idea on how much you need to feed your horse based on the horses activity level.

http://www.equisearch.com/horses_care/feeding/feed/grainneeds_042606/

Answer 5

Horses only need suplemants and/or grain if they need it(skiny,not an easy keeper,not the most nutriciouse hay).So it's u to deside really.My 1/4 horse get grain and bread cuz it gets to minus 40 here

Answer 6

if horse need supplements, where the hell do cowboys get it during their time..they are not as advance as us.actually, all those food that the horses eat contains vitamins and minerals and that is where they get all the supplements needed

Answer 7

well if you have a horse that is ridden or worked frequently it is good to give them the extra boost that oats give and supplement are allways good for any horse