What to feed a horse?

[wellington77]

Hi, I’ve just started sharing a horse, now I’ve ridden most of my life I’m in my 30’s however I was never the one when I did have a pony growing up who was incharge of knowing what to feed to horses in terms of actually knowing what and how much should be given. I just remember, hay, carrots and some pellets and grass. I havent lived at home since I was 18 have had horse shares etc since. Anyways I have become interested in what should be fed to a horse as the horse I’m sharing at the moment is fed all sorts of things and it has bamboozled me! Eg- coconut! Anyways, I’ve had a read and can see that horses need protein, carbs, fat, minerals and water. Is there horse feed that combines all of them, to make it simple for everyone? also how do people get fat into that horses diet? And lastly how do you know how much to feed your horse and what on earth is a balance?! Thank you if you have read all of this!

Thankyou for being so kind and answering my question xx

As others have said it depends on the type of horse, the amount of work, the condition of the fields.
I had a Welsh section D. Work was moderate, blanket clipped. Regular field rotation and fields with good drainage, meant a reasonable supply of grass pretty much year round.
Slightly less work in winter, so winter feed consisted of chaff (not much nutrition but helped bulk out feed and slow the feeding pace, sugar beet (has to be soaked fist as it swells a lot) and then a 'cool' mix feed. I'd feed warm bran mash with chopped carrots and apples, and garlic powder just because I liked the idea of a warm tummy On cold winter mornings!
In the summer because the work load was higher the mixed feed included oats (they provide more energy than other feeds). Reduced sugar beat and increased the mixed feed sometimes adding in extra oats and barely.
The important thing is introducing new feeds slowly and carefully and similarly if reducing feeds. When stabled always two full hay nets.
Cod liver oil is meant to be good for coat and joints.
Garlic is meant to help boost immune system, and can help reduce biting insects.
Biotin is good for hoof strength.
I can't remember the rest, as it's been many years since I had a horse!

@wellington77 we fed sugar beet as it was very well soaked and made the feeds wetter and one of ours had ongoing issues with an oesophageal stricture , eventually she was fed 4 times a day on soaked horse & pony nuts so it was like a gruel that she could manage to swallow .

I do wonder what we will do once my older horse wears his teeth down to nothing. They are already very small in his late 20s. I guess something like soaked nuts would work.

Hay replacer + a mash. My old yard there was a horse with very poor teeth and he survived fine on 3 hay replacer meals + 2 mash meals per day between 6am-7pm
. Couldn't eat any hay at all so lived out.

@CobbyMouthed my mare only had stumps for teeth as well as the stricture , she had a stable accident and lost a few teeth and also fractured her frontal sinus which led to her having surgical emphysema .

Most owners overfeed. I feed my warmblood cross hay, a scoop of hi-fi, a few pony nuts and a balancer. She is clipped, rugged and still living out. If anything she is a bit fat, but going into winter I don't mind so much. Light work, 2 lessons a week and some schooling.

I’ve got some of my horses on Allen and Page veteran mashes. They are practically like soup if you wet them enough, and designed with older horses in mind. I’ve only just started feeding them this though, it’s a learning curve for me - I’ve found my horses are suddenly old and I didn’t notice it creeping up on us! 😩 I was always feeding for hard work and energy before, and now I’m feeding for health and maintenance as they become old boys. They do like their soup though, so much so I put the young horse on the competition horse version of it!

Friend has started leaving her pony without hay when stabled overnight ie bringing in with nothing until turned out next day. Apparently she’s put him on a diet. This is such an interesting thread I hope you don’t mind my asking if that is ok? I don’t think it is! Assuming stabled at least 14 hours, surely he should have forage? She’s not terribly experienced btw!

Horse should never go more than 4 hours without food/hay. They are trickle feeders and need constant access to hay/grass. Your friend is risking ulcers and digestive issues plus it is downright cruel.
If a horse needs to lose weight then there are ways of doing this whilst still meeting their feeding needs eg soaking hay/feeding very low calorie feed.

@twistyizzy Thank you, that’s what I thought. Oddly she’s still feeding nuts etc. She’s not a close friend but I’ll pass this info on to try to get things changed for the pony.

@PrincessGraceless aside the risk of ulcers / digestive issues she will also be setting him up for stable vices like weaving and crib biting because he must be bored senseless.

I heard that their gut needs to be constantly processing stuff

@wellington77 if you fancy learning more about the basics there are lots of good books out there which cover this. My personal recommendations are the BHS training manuals. Not fancy but solid and fact based.

I suggested that and got shot down by the OP. She doesn't want to actually learn

I do thankyou, but you basically made out that you had answered my questions, when you hadn’t and your tone was stroppy and basically stating that I wasn’t listening and shouldn’t be commenting in my own discussion on the topic no I don’t want to read a book- hence why I posted on mumsnet!!

So how do you know how you are being told the correct thing on an anonymous forum? How do you know you aren't being told completely false information? That's why me + others have suggested reliable and accurate learning material. Anyone could be telling you anything.
I never inferred that you shouldn't be commenting on your own post, that is your interpretation.

I don’t, but you could say that about any sources of information. I’m not in charge of feeding a horse. in future I just won’t ask for any advice as clearly you don’t think it’s appropriate for me to ask yet still comment. It is mums net and they have a tack room section- what do you expect if not questions?! I don’t mind people recommending read a book, but it is the condescending tone, especially as I only have a couple of questions.

edit

I don’t, but you could say that about any sources of information. I’m not in charge of feeding a horse. in future I just won’t ask for any advice as clearly you don’t think it’s appropriate for me to ask yet still comment. It is mums net and they have a tack room section- what do you expect if not questions?! I don’t mind people recommending read a book, but it is the condescending tone, especially as I only have a couple of questions, and the question you said you had already answered and got huffy about- sugar beet, you didn’t even answer. Another person happily answered with no issue. I’m not buying a book when I only have a few questions, I’m not made of money

Actually no look back at your messages and you will see the one I said that I had already answered was "There is horse complete feed mixes?- why doesn’t everyone just use those along with hay and grass and salt lick , instead of buying lots of single items?"
At 8am I had literally answered that but you re-asked it at 10pm

I wanted to know about the sugar beet as well. I honestly don’t know why you care and are annoyed so much that you had to comment in the first place. It’s only a bloody question! Excuse the pun , but please climb down from your high horse. If you don’t like the thread, no one is forcing you to read the comments

A good quality balancer will cover what you describe and if you needed extra calories you could provide an oil. A low sugar high fibre chaff base is usually a good idea plus their main foodstuff which is grass/hay of course. Workload will play a huge role though as a cup of balancer and handful of chaff won't do for a race horse. Horses like a wide range of fruit and veg

That's awful and actually a welfare issue!

I have passed back the advice through someone who is more involved and I also think someone at the yard may be concerned, as a mystery person threw hay over the door apparently - owner wasn’t best pleased, but I am, as it means someone is watching.