Imagine that perfect summer day. Your horse is out grazing on his pasture and taking in nutrition through the leafy green grass. You are confident that he is eating a high quality, consistent fiber source that is providing an excellent foundation for his diet. By using the high quality, consistent source of fiber that you value in your hay and pasture and putting it in your feed bag we are able to give your horse the benefits of his summer pasture all year long and in any situation.
Because fiber is such a huge part of your horse’s healthy diet (he should be eating no less than 1% of his bodyweight daily in hay or pasture) it is essential that it is present in nearly everything he consumes. With manufactured feed we are able to control the amount of fiber in the ration by using some specific ingredients. Using alfalfa/legume products can help to add protein, energy and calcium to the feed, while grass products can help add protein and fiber. Some of the most common sources of fiber in horse feeds are:
- Alfalfa Meal
- Dehydrated Alfalfa
- Suncured alfalfa
- Coastal Bermuda Grass
- Ground Grass
- Ground Soybean Hay
It is important to always remember to read your feeding recommendations – just because a feed utilizes one or more of these forage products and has a high fiber content that does not mean that it can be fed as a sole ration.
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