Duncan Fletcher
dfletche@gte.net
Wendy Milner wrote:
>
> Within this forum, we tend to get into discussion about the
> "best" feed, best suppliment, best of everything. Best is
> an opinion. For the new riders, read what is writtin, but
> don't worry that you are screwing up if you don't do everything,
> or even anything that is written in the forum.
>
> To determin what your horse needs, take a critical look at your
> horse, and at what you do with your horse.
>
> Weight - Is your horse at the perfect weight? Too heavy? Too skinny?
> Digestion - Is your horse digesting most of his food? Or too little?
> Work - Are you increasing the amount of work your horse does? Is this
> affecting the horse's weight?
>
> The basics for all horses is good hay, lots of water, and access to salt.
> After that, everyone has an opinion.
>
> If your horse is the perfect weight, you must be doing something right.
> Don't start screwing it up by adding a bunch of stuff you might not
> need. If your horse is heavy (can you run you hand along his sides
> and not feel any ribs no matter how hard you press?), a bit of a diet
> and a bit more work is in order. If your horse is too skinny (can
> you see the ribs all the time?), you need to add calories and make
> sure the horse is getting all the nutrients from the food.
>
> [Isn't this easy so far?]
>
> If the horse is not maintaining body weight, first check the horse.
>
> * Teeth? Are they good and free of spurs? You might want to float
> the teeth. If the horse is really old, or had some teeth kicked out,
> you may need to skip hay and move to a mushy feed that doesn't need
> teeth.
>
> * Worms? Do you have the horse on a routine to de-worm regularly?
> At least 4 times a year, if you are on a clean pasture. More if
> you are in a messy stall, or with horses that are not wormed regularly.
>
> * Over all health? Have the vet check out the horse. You need a
> healthy horse to participate in this sport.
>
> HAY
>
> A horse needs about 2-3 % of its body weight in hay each day.
> So, a 1000 pound horse needs 20 to 30 pounds of hay. [You *are*
> weighing your hay, aren't you?] At least weigh the hay a few times
> to get the feel of how much you are feeding. If the horse has
> free access to pasture, it is more difficult to determine the quantity
> of feed.
>
> Hay should be grass hay for the most part. It should be good quality.
> No mold, weeds, stickers, or dust.
>
> GRAIN
>
> Corn, barely, oats, and other grains can be added to the horses diet
> as needed to maintain weight and add vitamines and minerals. The order
> listed above is the order of calories with corn having the most, but
> also being considered a "hot" feed, and oats having the least of the
> three.
>
> Studies of top endurance riders show that they feed between 3 and 10
> pounds of grain per day. Some don't feed any.
>
> SUPPLIMENTS
>
> There are so many suppliments that you don't know what to do.
> Consider the suppliments for people. There are suppliments to add
> weight, loose weight, get more energy, calm down the kids, and add
> vitamins and minerals in so many different mixes anyone would be confused.
> The same is true for horses.
>
> Endurance horses need electrolytes at rides. That is about the only
> given. All other suppliments depend on what your individual horse
> needs.
>
> Carrots and apples are frequent suppliments also:-)
>
> OIL
>
> Oil is a suppliment that in some endurance horses is needed because
> they are working much more than their capacity to take in food.
> Oil has mega calories.
>
> WEIGHT
>
> No you don't need to know the exact weight of your horse. It's fun though.
>
> If your horse is over weight (rare in endurance horses), try working
> a bit more. Then get rid of the extras. Reduce hay last. Make
> changes gradually.
>
> If your horse is perfect, don't change a thing.
>
> If your horse is under weight, or starts loosing weight as you get
> more into training, do the following, in order.
>
> * Increase the good grass hay till you find the horse is leaving
> some behind at each meal.
>
> * Add grain to the diet. Which one(s) depends on your horse and what
> is available locally. Start with a pound per feeding. Do not
> go over 10 pounds per day.
>
> * Add oil to the diet. Start with 1/4 a cup over grain. You can also
> buy a high fat feed. You can slowly increase the amount of oil to
> about 1 cup per feeding. Over feeding of oil with show itself by
> a runny stool, and an oily rear end.
>
> * If you think you need a suppliment, read all about it. Just what
> are the claims - read the fine print. Read what is in the suppliment.
> And ask around. Determine why you want to feed any suppliment.
> Then pick the suppliment that does what you want.
>
> Once you are pushing the limits of what you think a horse can do,
> all the nitty gritty details of feeding become very important.
> But for most of us, doing the good old basics of nutrition will
> get the most from our horses right now.
>
> Have fun:-)
> --
> Wendy
>
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>
> Wendy Milner HPDesk: wendy_milner@hp4000
> Hewlett-Packard Company e-mail: wendy@fc.hp.com
> Mail Stop A2 Telnet: 229-2182
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