What Are You Feeding My Horse?

by Elaine Polny
(Palgrave, Ontario, Canada)

I wish more boarders would pose this question to the barn managers who are taking care of their horses.

Feeding and nutrition are huge and complicated subjects that can make your head spin! For every available feed substance on the market you have a veterinarian/dietitian who will say it's good and another it's bad. Yikes! So learning a few basics about the most common feeds are helpful but more importantly is, do you know what they are feeding your horse to begin with?

Don't be shy about asking. My rule of thumb is, there is never a dumb question, ignorance is not a blissful state when it comes to horse care and management.:0)

Encourage your facility to get hay testing done so you at least have a place to start with knowing what vitamin, mineral, protein and calcium amounts are being satisfied. From there you will know if something additional is needed in the diet.

These days you just can't look & smell the hay and say oh, that's good stuff! It will not give you the true contents and every cutting and pasture field is different.

If you are a boarder we understand you are at the mercy of the protocols of the establishment but there should never be any harm done in asking. And if you suspect your horse isn't quite right, for example inching too often, or loosing or gaining weight you have every right to bring these concerns up and hopefully together with the care taker a solution will be implemented.

Always follow your heart and intuition it's always right!

Elaine Polny
Training Horses Naturally