“Regardless of the types of horses or how you feed them, their nutritional and health status should be observed at least once, preferably twice daily.  Each horse should be observed individually for injuries, attitude and feeding behavior, including eagerness to eat, rate and amount consumed or not consumed”

 

Horse Feed

 
We Offer:

• Strategy
• Ultium
• Omolene 100
• Omolene 200
• Omolene 300
• Omolene 400
• Omolene 500
• Equine Senior
• Equine Junior
• Race Ready
• Horsemen’s Edge
• Michigan Sweet or Sweetena   $9.81
• Cross Roads Sweet Mix      $9.23
• ADM
• and many more

 

 

 

A sore tongue or mouth or bad teeth are common causes of decreased feed intake.  Moldy or contaminated feed may cause a sudden decrease in feed intake.  Closely evaluate any uneaten feed to determine if there is a problem or if too much was consumed, if there is inadequate water or if there is something wrong with the horse.  Boredom may also be a cause of decreased intake, in which case exercise, a change in diet, or companionship of another animal may be helpful.

Decreased eagerness to eat or attitude are frequently the first effects of, and therefore indications of illness.  The presence, source and cause for any abnormal feces should also be determined.  The horse showing any deviation from normal should be examined thoroughly.  Rectal temperatures more than 1F (0.5C) outside the normal range of 99 to 101F (37.3 to 38.3C) should be evaluated further and treated accordingly.

The horse’s body weight should be monitored at least every few months.  If necessary, the amount fed should be altered accordingly.  This is the only accurate way to ensure that the horse is at the body condition desired for optimum physical performance, show performance, growth rate, reproduction and comfort during both hot and cold seasons.  Obtaining all horses’ weights periodically prevents this from occurring.Horses have optimal performance weights.  Weight Loss may occur as a result of inadequate dietary energy for the work being performed or from dehydration.  In either case, weight records are helpful in detecting weight loss so that it can be corrected.  Most horses in most situations should be kept in moderate to moderately fleshy condition.

Excess fat is usually a result or overfeeding.  Rarely is it due to a hormonal problem.  Factors that result in overfeeding include:

1. The satisfaction people get from feeding their horses.
2. Inadequate use and exercise.
3. Purposely overfeeding show hrses and sale horses.
4. Erroneously asuming the mare needs more feed before the last 2 to 3 months of pregnancy.
5. The horse being high on the pecking order in a group and getting too much of other horses’ feed.

Conversely, some common causes of thin horses include:

1. Poor quality or inadequate amounts of forage available.
2. Dental problems.
3. Excessive amounts of internal or external parasites.
4. High energy needs due to lactation or hard work.
5. Prolonged hot/humid weather.
6. Chronic disease that decreases intake or utilization of feed.
7. The horse being low in the pecking order in a group and being chased away from adequate feed.

If you have RFDTV you can find more about your larte animal on Better Animals TV or at betteranimals.com.

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