Transitioning Your Horse to a New Feed

safechoice feed being dumped in to bucket representing Transitioning Your Horse to a New FeedYou may be thinking your horse is in need of a senior diet, or perhaps there is a new feed available that you believe is even better for your horse.  Maybe you are no longer happy with your current feed.  Or, your retailer no longer carries the product you were using.  Whatever the reason, transitioning your horse to a new feed is a change that requires care and know-how.

It’s important to transition your horse gradually over a 7 day period, gradually increasing the new feed and decreasing the old.  Throughout the process, you’ll want to watch your horse’s body condition and adjust feeding rates as needed.

Mixing with Current Feed – The Ideal Process

If still have some of your current feed, transition as follows:

 

Current Feed

New Feed

Day 1-2

75%

25%

Day 3-4

50%

50%

Day 5-6

25%

75%

Day 7

100%

No Current Feed Available

Whether you just simply ran out, or your favorite feed has been discontinued or no longer carried by your retailer, sometimes you may not be able to mix their old and new feed slowly.  While not ideal, if no current feed is available, you can still safely transition to the new feed.

Because you don’t have any of the old feed to mix, you’ll want to reduce the total amount you feed your horse and gradually increase it again over 7 days, using the new feed.  It is a good idea to offer some extra hay or pasture-time during this transition, as well.  Feed your horse the new grain as follows:

 

% of recommend feeding rate of the new feed

Day 1-2

25%

Day 3-4

50%

Day 5-6

75%

Day 7

100%

Learn more about our feeds formulated specifically for hard keepers to ensure your horse is getting the optimum nutrition  to maintain their weight and health at feeding time, every time.

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Changing Horse Feeds – A Lot Like Horse Training

Most horse owners have a pretty steady routine when it comes to working with their horses, and that includes keeping a consistent feeding schedule and program in place, which is a good thing for the horse.  However, a variety of situations, from moving to a new place, to a change in the horse’s health, can require a change in habits and possibly in diet.

Chris Cox, renowned clinician and dedicated SafeChoice® feeder, offers this advice on preparing your horse for change:  “I never ask a horse to do something I haven’t prepared it to do.  By the time I’m asking a horse to step on to a trailer, that horse has all the preparation it needs to do it – and by prepare I don’t mean desensitize.  I don’t desensitize my horses as much as a lot people do.  It’s easy to overdo it and end up dulling your horse.  It’s okay for your horse to react to something, but if it is properly trained it won’t overreact.”

Chris’s training tip follows easily right in to the realm of changing your horse’s feeding program. Abrupt change, while a horse can manage and get through, isn’t the most desirable scenario.  Gradual introduction of whatever is new to the feeding program, whether it is a change in the amount fed or a change to an entirely different type of feed, should be done incrementally over a period of about 7 days.  This time frame allows the horse’s digestive system to adjust to the new levels of nutrients being digested, and also allows time for the sometimes-picky-eaters to realize that the new feedstuff is, in fact, OK to eat.

Preparing your horse, whether it is in feeding practices, daily schedule, or training, will set you and your horse up to make changes successfully.

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