Horse nutrition is confusing! So many things to consider for your horse, and then on top of that, every horse has different needs…Where is a new horse owner, or even someone who has been around horses for a while that is now interested in nutrition, to begin?
Here’s a quick list of past blog posts that will give you the basics – a “Horse Nutrition 101″ class list, so to speak!
Determining How Much Should Your Horse Eat:
Basic Needs:
Understanding Horse Feeds:
- Comparing Feed Tags
- How to Transition Feeds
- Weighing Out Your Feed
- Selecting the Right Feed
- Feeding Treats
There is much more beyond just these topics, but horse owners should all have a good handle on the basics to keep their horses happy and healthy!
I have a 6 year old Haflinger gelding weighing 1,000lbs (light riding) who has millions of calcium particules in the bladder and several calcium stones in the urinary tract. My vet recommened removing all calcium and alfalfa from his diet, but did not make any recommendations on feed. Can you assist me in choosing what would be best for him?
Hello Brandy, Thanks for checking in with us. Urinary calculi are fairly common in some species, although not so much in horses. From a dietary perspective, the goal is to meet, but not significantly exceed, mineral requirements and keep Ca:P ratio in the diet in the range of 1.5:1 to 2:1. Alfalfa will have 6:1 ratio and high calcium content, which is why it is to be avoided in this case. Completely removing all calcium from the diet, though, is impossible.
Here’s our recommendation:
1. Feed a good quality grass hay and get a forage analysis on it so the mineral content is measured and understood.
2. If the horse needs additional calories, use Life Design Senior as it has a lower calcium maximum than other feeds. We recognize that your horse is not a senior horse, but Life Design Senior was designed to reduce risk for older horses who may have similar issues, and it works well in younger animals as well.
3. Make certain that loose salt is offered free choice and that the water supply is excellent. Salt intake and water consumption are useful to make certain urine output is dilute and optimum volume. Limited urine output results in mineral concentration in the urine being higher, so keep the water source flowing!
We hope this helps, if you have more questions, please let us know. Thanks ~ Gina T.