Just as you grab junk food when you’re on the run despite knowing that a fruit or vegetable is more healthy, similarly many horse owners feed their horses quickly in a rush through their busy schedules, in spite of knowing it’s not the best for their horse. Whereas sometimes, it’s due to lack of information that you keep on making mistakes as far as horse feeding is concerned.
To help you figure out exactly where you’re making mistakes, here are some of the commonly found mistakes.
Not Considering Your Horse’s Age, Activeness, Breed and Health
Feeding the same quantity to a horse which occasionally gets a trail ride and to the one who is a three star event horse is definitely a huge mistake by horse owners. Just as the diet of a person who spends his whole day on bed, is different from the one who is a marathon runner, horses too need to be fed differently. Not just this, the horse’s age and breed is also taken into account when deciding its feed.
A horse’s diet needs change with their competing ad training activities. Usually, this increases caloric requirements. Similarly, an old horse experiences digestive problems if excess feed is provided to it.
Forgetting that a Horse’s Main Diet Should Be Fiber- Based
Many horse owners don’t pay attention to the fact that the main constituent of a horse’s diet must be fiber. They pay attention to the grain part instead of forage. However, many horses can lead a healthy life based on just fiber. They are capable of extracting the essential nutrients from it, while digesting it properly.
Starving Your Horse for Better Feeding
Limiting your horse’s feed is another mistake by horse keepers. It’s in the horse’s nature that they begin to worry about their next meal as soon as they are hungry. So when you feed them, they consume excessive food, which makes them obese. This stress response is due to limited food access and results in its unusually strange behavior.
Limited Protein Diet
Many horse owners believe that limiting protein in the diet of their horses is a very wise decision. However, horses without a top line and having round bellies possess less protein in their bodies. Protein requirements must be met for those horses that are lactating, are young, or have weaker muscles.
Moreover, horses which are always racing and working need abundant protein for constant muscle repair just as humans need protein after workout. Baby horses also need to be properly fed with protein as their body is at a growing stage and need to build a strong bone mass.
Horse feeding is one of the most attention-oriented things you do for your horse. Your negligence can lead to many health problems, resulting in their sudden death or weakening of legs. Therefore, make sure to check if you’re making the above mistakes while feeding your horses. If you are, start feeding them right, because it’s better late than never!