Q: How do I know how much protein my horse needs?

A: The protein needs of horses are influenced by age (immature vs. mature) and activity levels. A growing horse’s protein requirement is influenced by how fast he is growing. A mature horse’s protein requirement is influenced by such activities as gestation, lactation and work (exercise). However, when purchasing commercial feeds, the horse owner must also consider what forage the horse will be consuming. Forage protein content can vary dramatically. If you feed alfalfa hay with 18 percent protein, you may select a feed containing much less protein than if you feed a grass forage with only 9 percent protein. Most concentrates (commercial feeds) have feeding recommendations printed on the bags. Select the concentrate that is designed to meet the needs of your horse, and feed it with the recommended forage. For mature performance horses on high-quality alfalfa hay, feed a 10 percent protein concentrate. If you are feeding timothy, Coastal bermudagrass, or other grass hay, feed a 12, 12+ or 14 percent protein concentrate.

Q: What are the benefits of fat in a horse’s diet?

A: Fat has two functions in our horse feeding programs. Fat provides essential fatty acids that are needed for vitamin absorption, skin and hair quality. We include low levels of vegetable oil in horse diets to make show horses’ coats shiny. Most horses need only 3 or 4 percent fat in the diet to meet these needs. Fat is also used by the horse as an energy source. The addition of fat to concentrates increases the energy density of the diet and will allow you to meet the horse’s energy needs with less feed. Fat addition also allows the reduction of starch in the diet, which can make some horses more manageable. Corn oil, soybean oil, flaxseed and stabilized rice bran (20percent fat) are the most popular choices.

Q: Why do some feeds contain cracked corn, while others contain flaked corn? What are the benefits of each?

A: Feed ingredients are processed to allow the horse better opportunity to digest the nutrients. If horses chewed feeds slowly and completely, processing would have very little benefit for most animals. But they do not. Young animals eat fast. Some older animals bolt their feed, and some have poor teeth. The less, they chew the smaller the particles need to be for maximum utilization, so we crimp oats and crack corn. Cooking is another method of improving nutrient utilization. Flaking corn is a method of cooking the grain and gelatinizing the starch. It improves the efficiency of digestion in most horses. For greater feed efficiency, select products that include processed grains.

Q: Complete feeds are available from some companies that include grain and forage combinations, usually in a pellet form. The primary forage in these products is alfalfa meal. These feeds are recommended to be fed alone. Are these sound programs?

A: Certainly these complete feeds can provide the nutrients needed by mature horses. Unfortunately, they usually provide the required nutrients in less feed than the horse wants to eat. This means that the horse is always hungry and therefore likely to develop vices such as wood chewing and cribbing. Horses need long, bulky forage to keep the digestive tract functioning properly and the animal satisfied. Feed only complete feeds that are based on long-fiber forages.