Horse feed

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Herd of grass-eating horses

Horse feed is feed that has been specially developed and produced for horses, is fed to horses and ponies and is adapted to the needs of modern horse keeping.

General

In nature, horses move forward eating for about 16 hours. This natural behavior is no longer possible in most of the types of husbandry that can be found today. In keeping with modern horse keeping, the horse's diet must be adapted to today's conditions. Horse feed is divided into roughage, concentrated feed and juice feed. The differences are mainly to be found in the nutritional value of individual feed groups, but also in the type of feed. How much and what kind of feed a horse needs depends on the breed and the areas of use. There are two groups of feed, maintenance feed and performance feed. Mainly horses that are not subject to high workloads, such as leisure horses, young and old horses, need maintenance feed. Horses belonging to this feed group are mainly fed roughage such as hay, straw, grass, grass silage and maize silage. In some cases, juice feed, such as carrots and beets, is also fed. Horses that consume more energy, such as sport and breeding horses, need performance feed. In addition to roughage and juice, concentrated feed also belongs to high-performance feed. Concentrated feed has a higher energy value than roughage and juice feed. There is a wide range of different compounds for different uses.

Roughage

Herd of hay-eating horses

Roughage includes hay and straw , grass, grass silage , corn silage and other whole plant products with a high structural content . Roughage is the principle of a healthy diet for every horse. Hay and straw are produced on the meadows in the summer and contain meadow, clover, alfalfa plants and, ideally, herbs that are preserved through appropriate drying. When producing hay and straw, you have to pay particular attention to the baling, because if the hay is too compacted it contains a lot of dust and is therefore of poor quality. During the grain harvest, straw is a by-product and is used as such for feeding or bedding. After baling, it is very important that the hay or straw is not fed until it has been stored for 6 to 8 weeks. This storage time is important because freshly pressed hay and straw bacteria develop and die in the 8 weeks of storage. Grass is a natural food for the horse and is eaten by the horse in the meadow or pasture. Grazing mainly takes place in summer when the horses are out and the grass is of the best quality. This type of feeding is mainly used for young and old horses. Grass silage or corn silage is often substituted for hay because they have a higher nutritional value than hay. The loss of nutrients is reduced by the silage process. Silage is perishable and should not be stored for too long. In addition, you always have to check the quality of the silage before feeding. You control the smell and the color. Changes such as mold formation, darkened areas and a distinctly sour smell indicate rotten silage. Rotten silage can cause health problems in a horse, such as colic , constipation , laminitis or diarrhea . Maize silage is used in a similar way to grass silage because of its favorable energy content. The disadvantage of corn silage, however, is that it is low in minerals and vitamins. Maize silage is mostly fed to riding horses with a low protein requirement, brood mares, foals and growing horses.

Juice feed

Juice feed consists mainly of tubers, roots and other parts of plants that have a dry matter content of less than 55%. Typical of root and tuber crops is their high water and sugar content, which is why they are very tasty for the horses. However, due to the high water content, tubers and roots are easily perishable. That is why the rich fodder beets and red carrots are primarily fed to horses .

Concentrate feed

high-energy horse muesli for racehorses

Concentrated feed is feed that is fed to horses as required. There is a very large selection of concentrates with different properties for different areas of application. Concentrated feed is divided into single feed and compound feed. Straight feed is feed that consists only of one natural product, such as oats, corn or barley. Compound feed, on the other hand, is usually mueslis or other mixtures of different products. Which concentrate is best to use depends on the area in which the horse is used. There are concentrated feeds that have a very high energy value and are therefore best suited for horses with a high energy consumption, such as B. for sport horses or broodmares. Concentrated feed is also available as a pure additional feed, with a low energy value but a high nutritional value, which is therefore best suited for foals or growing horses. There are many companies that produce concentrates for horses. The feed has to be dosed differently from horse to horse. The main differences are in the structure of the mixtures and the digestibility of the ingredients. Products that come from a company that only specializes in horse feed are better suited for horses.

Food supplements and feed additives

different forms of horse feed

Concentrated feed also includes various supplements such as oils or other liquids. Dietary supplements mainly consist of concentrates of various nutrients, vitamins and minerals and as such are fed to normal concentrated feed. Supplements are mostly used in the case of health problems in the horse, such as allergic reactions, colic, osteoarthritis, diarrhea, etc., but also for increased needs due to high stress.

Web links

literature

  • German Equestrian Association e. V. (FN): Guidelines for Riding and Driving, Volume 4. 2010, ISBN 978-3-88542-284-6 , p. 137 ff.
  • Gerrit Wöckener: Falcon lexicon for horse lovers. 1998, ISBN 3-8068-7352-6 , pp. 98 f.
  • Building permit agriculture No. 49 - horse keeping. Deutsche Landwirtschaftsverlag, Hanover, p. 45 ff.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Guidelines for Riding and Driving, Vol. 4, FN Verlag, Warendorf, 2010, ISBN 978-3-88542-284-6 , p. 144.