10 Common Horse Feeding Mistakes
Most horse owners enjoy feeding their horses. Its fun to see your horse enjoy its meals and come running to you when it sees you with the feed bucket. But its easy to make a mistake when planning your horses dietary needs. Avoid these 10 common feeding mistakes.
Overfeeding
As horse owners we usually enjoy looking after our companions and that often means providing them with the best feeds possible. However its easy to go overboard on the feed. Overfeeding can lead to problems of obesity including equine metabolic syndrome and can lead to laminitis. If you find yourself becoming a master chef for a horse that doesnt have any unusual or specific feeding requirements you could be in danger of overfeeding your horse. Most horses need a very simple diet of good pasture or hay and they only need supplements or concentrates if there is a shortfall in nutrition. Theres no need to be mixing and cooking bran mashes slicing carrots and serving up elaborate meals. Having hay tested is a good idea as it can indicate what types of supplements you might need to add to your horses diet.
Underfeeding
Underfeeding can be a problem with senior horses and horses that are working hard. While hardworking horses can be expected to look lean they shouldnt look gaunt. If hay or pasture wont keep your working horse in good condition look to concentrates to make up the shortfall. However keep in mind that the bulk of your horses diet should be made up of grass or hay. Underfeeding hay or pasture and overfeeding grains and concentrates can lead to colic.
Inadequate Pasture Grass
Its easy to look at a pasture from the distance and think its lush and green. But closer inspection may reveal that your pasture is being overtaken by undesirable weeds. This means horses have to work harder to find enough food and may start eating the less nutritional and sometimes toxic weeds. Look after your pasture
