Horses are large, incredibly athletic animals that make both a wonderful pet and riding partner. However, feeding a horse can be a bit more complex than you may think.
Horses are herbivores, meaning they have a plant-based diet. While many animal species can be herbivores, such as cows, horses are specifically non-ruminant herbivores, which means their gastrointestinal tract works differently than other types of herbivores. As such, horses need to eat and be fed in a way that aligns with the way their digestive system operates.
In this article, you’ll gain a better understanding of what you should and shouldn’t feed a horse, and how often to feed them for optimum health.
What Should You Feed a Horse?
The base foundation of any horse’s diet should be forage. A forage-first diet properly aligns with the way a horse’s digestive system works. Forage can come in the form of pasture grass or dry forage, like hay.
Horses need carbohydrates as their main energy source, fats as a more concentrated form of energy, and proteins, such as amino acids, for overall body condition support. Other essential minerals and vitamins are also vital for a horse’s overall health and wellbeing.
These additional energy sources and nutrients can come mainly from forage, especially pasture grass, but can also come from horse feed. Horses should be fed about 2% - 3% of their body weight in feed per day. For example, a 1,000-pound horse should consume between 20 and 30 pounds per day in feed, with the majority of that coming from forage.
Traditionally, horse feeds were mainly made up of things like oats, corn, and barley. Today, the main ingredients of horse feeds are often things like soybeans, beet pulp, and dehydrated alfalfa. High quality horse feeds are then fortified with other essential nutrients, vitamins, and minerals.
However, not all horse feeds are created equal. Some horse feeds have fillers or are high in sugars and starches (NSC’s).
Many horses have sugar and starch sensitivities. Other horses who are harder-keepers, hyperactive, insulin resistant, have PSSM Type 1, have metabolic disorders, or those with digestive tract sensitivities also shouldn’t have high levels of NSC. That’s why choosing the right feed for your horse is so important.
A horse’s health status, body condition score, and level of work load combined will determine what the best type of feed for them will be, how much to feed, and when.
As a healthy treat and only in moderation, horses can also have things like carrots, apples, watermelon, bananas, grapefruit, or pumpkin.
Healthy, commercially made horse treats are also a great way to reward your horse in moderation.
While horses don’t “eat” water, remember this is an essential part of their diet too. Clean, fresh water should always be made available to them.
What Should You Not Feed a Horse?
Even though horses are herbivores, there are some things they cannot eat—including certain kinds of plants.
While pasture grass is an excellent source of nutrients for horses, introducing lush pasture grass for too long too quickly when a horse is not used to it, especially in the spring, can cause problems. This is especially important for horses with insulin resistance.
Things like avocados, potatoes, onions, tomatoes, cabbage, rhubarb, cauliflower (along with other cruciferous vegetables), fruit in excess, or other animal feeds are some of the things that shouldn’t be given to horses. Horses also cannot eat any form of meat or dairy.
Bran, commonly found as bran mashes, might seem like something your horse should be eating, but it’s not actually recommended as a major part of your horse’s diet. This is because bran has limited nutritional value, and it can cause hormonal and mineral imbalances.
When and How Often Should Horses Be Fed Daily?
Horses have a smaller stomach than you may think; a horse’s stomach can only hold about 3 gallons of food. This means large meals infrequently can cause issues like digestive problems or even ulcers.
Instead, small meals fed at least two times per day, ideally three times a day or more, is best for optimal digestion. Like people, a breakfast, lunch, and dinner type feeding schedule is best.
Because horses are grazing animals, they are naturally meant to eat small portions of food throughout the day.
For performance horses, timing when you feed will maximize or minimize performance. Blood glucose and insulin peak at about 2 – 3 hours after a concentrated meal, and return to baseline in about 4 – 5 hours. So, horses who are heavily working should be worked at least 4 hours after a feed meal.
If your horse will only be lightly working, it’s unlikely that feeding within this time frame will cause any notable issues.
Horse Feed Options from Tribute® Equine Nutrition
Tribute® Superior Equine Nutrition has a number of horse feed options to suit the needs of the individual horse based on their health, age, and level of work.
For example, Kalm ’N EZ® is suitable for many horses. Kalm ‘N EZ® is high in fat and fiber, while low in sugars and starches (NSC), when compared to many commercial horse feeds that have much higher levels of NSC. The high fiber levels make Kalm ‘N EZ® an ideal option for horses when hay quality is poor.
Every Tribute® feed is made from the highest-quality ingredients, and includes a digestive support package.
Tribute® focuses on their feed being a reliable and affordable source of key nutrients for horses. Additional fortification using highly available sources of nutrients that are commonly lacking in equine diets, such as amino acids, trace minerals, and vitamins, help support horse health and performance.
Tribute® feeds are also formulated with Equi-Ferm XL®, a pre- and probiotic, as well as digestive enzymes, to support optimal digestion. These enzymes enhance the digestibility of the horse feed portion of the diet. Equi-Ferm XL® also supports fermentation in the hindgut, which maximizes the digestibility of forage. To recap, forage is the main source of dietary energy for the majority of horses.
If you aren’t sure what the best feed is for your horse, Tribute® also offers personalized feed plans tailored to your horse’s specific needs and your goals.
