Horse vitamins should always be included in your horse's diet, no matter what age. While you might think this is a simple course of action - feed your horse - you'd be surprised at how many horse owners that don't know about the basics. There is no true rule of thumb for feeding, as each horse's nutritional needs will vary depending on age, weight and level of activity. To begin with, your horse normally uses forage as being a primary component of their diets. It's one of the main necessities for a properly working digestive tract. Whenever we talk about forage, we generally mean natural pasture and cut hay.
Mature horses usually eat about 2 to 2.5 % of their body weight in feed each day. So a 1,000 pound horse will eat roughly 20 to 25 lbs of feed per day. This means high quality feed, not low quality high fiber feed (which could hinder proper digestion). Within a perfect pasture world, your horse should eat a minimum of 1 percent of his body weight in hay/pasture forage daily. If the horse does not do very much work, they'll do properly on purely forage, without any grain thrown in. On the other hand, growing, breeding, or working animals must have supplements in addition to forage - including grain or possibly a supplement concentrate. Think of it this way, forages must provide at least one half or even more of the overall weight of the feed eaten daily for optimum growth and development.
Before you could supply a healthy "dish" to your horse, you have to know the nutrient content and quality of your forage. As soon as you know that, you can figure out the best levels of each to meet nutritional requirements. The best source, plus the most affordable one for summer time feed is the pasture. And, in most cases good pasture on it's own can provide all the nutritional requirements your horse needs. How can you see how much pasture is needed to feed a horse?
Here is a rough tip to help you which uses a weight of 1,000 - 1,200 pounds. A mare and foal should have about 1.75 to 2 acres of field. A yearling should have 1.5 to 2 acres of pasture and Weanlings must have 0.5 to 1 acres of pasture. Winter feed of course would be cut hay, and once again, top quality if you can provide it. It must be cut early, be leafy and green colored and as free as is possible of dust, molds, weeds and stubble. This feed is usually full of protein, minerals and vitamins.
Horse vitamins should always be put into your horse's diet together with proper nutrition. Yes, you may use alfalfa hay, but take care about the higher protein content if you're feeding to young growing horses, as it may contain a lot of calcium in connection to phosphorus. Too much calcium isn't great for growing horses. If you're not sure regarding hay quality, have it analyzed.
Mature horses usually eat about 2 to 2.5 % of their body weight in feed each day. So a 1,000 pound horse will eat roughly 20 to 25 lbs of feed per day. This means high quality feed, not low quality high fiber feed (which could hinder proper digestion). Within a perfect pasture world, your horse should eat a minimum of 1 percent of his body weight in hay/pasture forage daily. If the horse does not do very much work, they'll do properly on purely forage, without any grain thrown in. On the other hand, growing, breeding, or working animals must have supplements in addition to forage - including grain or possibly a supplement concentrate. Think of it this way, forages must provide at least one half or even more of the overall weight of the feed eaten daily for optimum growth and development.
Before you could supply a healthy "dish" to your horse, you have to know the nutrient content and quality of your forage. As soon as you know that, you can figure out the best levels of each to meet nutritional requirements. The best source, plus the most affordable one for summer time feed is the pasture. And, in most cases good pasture on it's own can provide all the nutritional requirements your horse needs. How can you see how much pasture is needed to feed a horse?
Here is a rough tip to help you which uses a weight of 1,000 - 1,200 pounds. A mare and foal should have about 1.75 to 2 acres of field. A yearling should have 1.5 to 2 acres of pasture and Weanlings must have 0.5 to 1 acres of pasture. Winter feed of course would be cut hay, and once again, top quality if you can provide it. It must be cut early, be leafy and green colored and as free as is possible of dust, molds, weeds and stubble. This feed is usually full of protein, minerals and vitamins.
Horse vitamins should always be put into your horse's diet together with proper nutrition. Yes, you may use alfalfa hay, but take care about the higher protein content if you're feeding to young growing horses, as it may contain a lot of calcium in connection to phosphorus. Too much calcium isn't great for growing horses. If you're not sure regarding hay quality, have it analyzed.
About the Author:
Vitamins specialists have various advice and professional views on how you take good care of your precious equines when using the supreme Vitamins inside their day-to-day diet plan.
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