Hay only diet.

[jaytori220]

How many of you have your idle horses on a forage only diet? What suppliments if any do you give? I have two minis. One is an ok keeper. She had alot of issues and cant be ridden or driven. She is just a special needs pasture ornament. The other is an air fern that the kids poke around on a couple times a week. I have cut him back drastically on pellets and he gets all pasture grass. My tiny mare gets about a half pound of Seminole Perform Safe pellet and a few pounds of soaked alfalfa cubes. I was considering going with either a free choice grass hay like coastal and giving either alittle alfalfa or alfalfa mix. Or just free choice OA or TA hay with little alfalfa. And possibly adding Seminole Equalizer. I was using the alfalfa for a little extra vitamins amd minerals. Whats your opinion?

 

[chandab]

Easier said than done, but most horses really don't need more than hay/pasture and vit/min supplemement.

For my convenience, mine do get a little bit of feed, it gets their vit/min into them without a fight (I found a feed that you only need to feed a small amount for maintenance, and my horses are looking great on it). I have a couple that need more, so they are getting a different feed.

 

[disneyhorse]

A ration balancer is good for horses on hay only, since a lot of nutrient can be lost as hay is dried and stored...

 

[JMS Miniatures]

I have 2 of my show horses on a hay only diet, and they both look and feel great. They are just very easy keepers. I agree with them needing some type of minerals and I have mine on GroSTRONG minerals.

 

[drmatthewtaylor]

Hay/pasture is a good diet for horses. Vitamins are usually not needed, but a trace mineral salt block for your area should be made available.

Dr. Taylor.

 

[jaytori220]

Wouldnt alfalfa supply enough vitamins and minerals alone?

 

[chandab]

Wouldnt alfalfa supply enough vitamins and minerals alone?

The only thing it might be a little short on is phosphorus (well, technically, alfalfa is high in calcium, so often phosphorus needs to be added to balance the Ca ratio). A mineral supplement designed to balance alfalfa hay might be a good idea to keep the balance. Otherwise, alfalfa should provide pretty much all they horse needs, and quite often more, its quite nutrient dense.

 

[Margo_C-T]

Most healthy, mature horses can do just fine on good pasture or quality hay alone. There was a recent article in 'The Horse.com' that supported the idea of a 'forage-only' diet even for performance horses; I know that the more I learn, the more I lean toward a forage-based diet for most horses.

I have been using a forage-based(alfalfa as the 'first' ingredient)steam-extruded,'kibble' concentrate, along w/plenty of good grass hay and a once-daily small ration of really good alfalfa hay(and once-daily soaked beet pulp and ground flax)...and have been VERY happy w/how my horses(all minis at this time)look and feel on it. However, I just found out that the ONE local dealer no longer stocks it, making the nearest dealer over 150 mi. away. The maker of 'Canidae' dog foods now makes an equine feed, named 'Equidae', of a similar type,and there is ONE dealer in the area, @ 40 mi. from me, but it is over $35/50 lbs., and calls for feeding the same amt. as the 'Total Equine', which is what I was feeding, at @ $17.50/40 lbs....and I simply can't afford that. So, I am thinking of trying simply a ration balancer, while possibly uping the % of alfalfa slightly, along w/'near' free-feeding of grass hay. My B sized, old-style Shetland-type gelding actually got too fat using the recommended amt.(by body weight)of the 'kibble', and I have cut him back on it, but of course, then he isn't getting the recommended vit/min., etc. that are formulated into the concentrate,so I need to find another approach.High prices across the board are also making feeding horses ever more challenging, esp. when you do NOT have pasture.

Margo

 

[jaytori220]

I know Seminole feeds make a loose mineral for horses on grass and another for horses on alfalfa. Im wondering if just feeding free choice TA or OA would supply the balance of calcium to phosphorus? Just throwing around some ideas for myself.

 

[bevann]

Had a friend that worked for BLM for many years and owned Mustangs.I went to an adoption and was told that when horses come off the range they will not eat grain since they have no idea what it is.They would eat hay and other forage and eventually learned to eat grain.Makes me wonder if the things we do to/for our animals are for their benefit or to make ourselves feel better aqbout the care we give them.

 

[JMS Miniatures]

I've always believed in the past grain is the best to give them but after attending a nutrition seminar I realized how wrong I was. Forage is so important for a horse, just look at grain as a supplementation to what they may need. So I completely changed my feeding program to Glo feeds by ADM if they need it, and their grain amounts was cut in half compared to the Purina Mini/Pony feed and their hay was doubled. However I feel and what they said in the nutrition seminar that they still need their vitamins and minerals that they aren't getting from grains so I went with the MoorMan's GroStrong Pro-Vita-Min Tub. It's free choice minerals you can let them lick off of all day long and my horse's love it compared to other mineral blocks out their they just wouldn't touch.

http://www.admani.com/horse/Products/Horse%20Pro%20Vita%20min%2020-5%20Tub.htm

 

[rubyviewminis]

Sorry but mustangs are considered browsers not grazers as they and all horses have been thought of and if you don't believe me come visit for a week and watch. Even in Arizona our Quarter Horses browsed just like our goats and grazed too. That is how they get a diversified diet to meet their needs. It is also how they have perfect hooves from wearing them naturally. Then as soon as the BLM gets ahold of them in small crowded pens, where they have many different stressors thrown at them and no way to move their hooves start to flare, and they have rich alfalfa too that they aren't used to.

I believe in forage first diets, but since our soils are depleted or artificially fertilized I don't think the hay has everything they need thus the ration balancers or vitamin and mineral mixes. The mineral blocks are made for cattle and it has been shown in too many cases Dr. Taylor, that the smooth tongues of horses get sore and they don't like to use the blocks. They also cannot get enough of what they need from a block. Not many domestic horses have the opportunity to travel and graze and browse a large area like the mustangs can. Have you taken a hard look at the terrain the mustangs thrive on? It doesn't look like it would support much and yet they are fat and healthy most of the time. That is if the BLM hasn't fenced off their access to water, or it isn't an unusual drought year like this year.

 

[chandab]

I have 2 of my show horses on a hay only diet, and they both look and feel great. They are just very easy keepers. I agree with them needing some type of minerals and I have mine on GroSTRONG minerals.

Where do you get your GroStrong minerals?

I'm trying to find some, but can't find any on-line dealers and haven't had a chance to check the one place in town that sells feed (doubt they have them, as they have their own brand of minerals).

 

[wingnut]

I went to hay/pasture only this summer for everyone but my hard keeper. In the 3 months since I went this route, none of my horses look the worse for wear. If anything, I'm still over feeding them with the hay. No one has a "hay belly". My hay is 1/2 alfalfa though.

 

[MajorClementine]

All of our riding horse are on hay/pasture only with a salt/mineral block available all the time. Running canal water to drink. They've been this way for 10 years. We'll grain if we are planning on riding hard for several days in a row. But more as a reward and thank you than anything.

My minis started getting a little grain/feed in the winter to keep their weight up during the really cold deep snow months. Other than that it's just been hay. However, I've but them on a biotin supplement just lately for their feet and coats. It's really really dry here.

On a side note about mineral blocks causing sores on horses tongues, mine chew the blocks. Scrape chunks off with their teeth and chew them. They can go through a 40lb block pretty quick in the summer.

 

[ozymandias]

The only thing it might be a little short on is phosphorus (well, technically, alfalfa is high in calcium, so often phosphorus needs to be added to balance the Ca ratio). A mineral supplement designed to balance alfalfa hay might be a good idea to keep the balance. Otherwise, alfalfa should provide pretty much all they horse needs, and quite often more, its quite nutrient dense.

Depends where it's grown. We grow awesome alfalfa in this area but have no selenium in our soil - therefore none of this very important mineral gets into the alfalfa.

http://www.bendequine.com/documents/Selenium.pdf

 

[HGFarm]

Mine are on alfalfa, with some grass hay, though it is hard to find any good grass here. Basicly it's an alfalfa diet. I have the sea salt mineral blocks out, along with plain white salt so they have their choice of what they need and fresh water. If you check out my website you will see that they are all in good shape with well distributed weight/muscle. The mares are not being worked, are not nursing foals right now, and dont need a massive complicated diet.