Roughage consists primarily of bulky, coarse plant parts with high fiber contents. Roughage sources can include things like rice hulls, dried citrus meal, rye mill run, etc. These are a few of the most common sources of roughage. Depending on where you live, there may be other more prevelant sources of roughage available. No matter what the specific ingredient is, the main function of roughage in the diet is to provide bulky fiber that helps pull the contents of the digestive tract along and assist in keeping the gut functioning.
Do you know the fiber level in your current feeding program? Few horse owners can answer that question, and even fewer understand why it might be important or where fiber comes from.
Secondary to that is what is present in any supplemental grain sources. Lush pasture forages can act as a laxative in early spring and may cause founder. Introduce horses gradually to pastures by slowly increasing their daily grazing time. Small grains, such as corn, oats and barley, are known as concentrates. Concentrates are lower in fiber and higher in energy than roughages. The grain should be clean, mold- and insect-free, with a bright color. Grain quality is just as important as hay quality.
Grains may be cracked, steamed or rolled, but, if ground too finely, may cause respiratory problems or colic. Oats are the safest and easiest grain to feed with hay because it is high in fiber and low in energy, and higher in protein than corn. Corn has the highest energy content of any grain and can put weight on a horse quickly. It can be fed on the ear, cracked, rolled or shelled. Barley is an intermediate source of energy and protein content. All grains are low in calcium, but high in phosphorus.
Protein and vitamin-mineral supplements are added to the diet to increase the diet's concentration. Grains are energy supplements to a high forage diet. Only add supplements to the diet if something is missing. Some protein supplements are oilseed meals, soybeans, cottonseed, linseed flaxseed meal, peanut meal, sunflower seed meal and rapeseed canola. Vitamin and mineral supplements should only be added to the diet if the horse is deficient. Generally, the only minerals of concern in feeding horses are calcium, phosphorus and salt.
In some geographical areas, lack of selenium and, in growing horses, copper and zinc, is a concern. Other minerals are likely to be present in adequate amounts in a normal diet. Concentrated mixes are cereal grains with supplements added to increase the specific nutrient content of the mix. A complete feed is a grain mix that is high in fiber because it contains a forage or high-fiber byproducts feed such as hulls.
Complete feeds are held together, usually by extrusion puffed up like dog food or by forming into pellets. If you are feeding a commercial complete feed, you will not need to feed hay follow the label for feeding recommendations. There are also feeds for specific classes of horses. Some feeds are specially formulated for young, growing horses weanlings and yearlings ; and for geriatric aged horses that are old and have specific nutritional needs. Some commercial feed companies make pre-mixed, convenient, easy-to-use formulated feeds for horses that are on different hay diets such as grass or alfalfa.
You should not need to add any other supplements to the diet. These feeds may be more expensive than developing your own ration, but they are good for the owner who does not want to spend time to research their horse's diet. Nutrient requirements for different horse. The nutrient requirements of a horse vary with its age, weight and the amount of work it performs. Good quality hay is sufficient feed for a mature horse that is ridden very little. With an increase in work, grain should be added to its diet.
Approximate Amounts 1, -pound horse , all hay and grain should be of good quality. Only a horse that is worked extremely hard would ever receive half of its ration in grain. A racehorse in heavy training is an example of a horse requiring half of its ration in grain. So never feed your pleasure horse more than it needs. Younger horses require special rations, talk to your veterinarian. There are many books available to show you how to balance a horses' ration or contact your local Penn State Extension Educator for help.
When balancing or evaluating a ration, use the National Research Council tables as a guideline to determine available nutrients to meet your horse's requirements.
When you balance a ration: Determine the age, weight and level of activity or work of the horse, and determine the actual nutrient content of the available feed by sending your feed to a commercial feed-testing laboratory follow the direction in the article above. Contact your local Penn State Extension Educator for the name of the laboratory nearest you. The horse's daily nutrient ration needs will vary due to age, activity or performance level, health status, and, in broodmares, stage of pregnancy or lactation.
Estimates of dietary requirements can be found in a variety of publications, such as the National Research Council's Nutrient Requirements of Horses , 6th Edition NRC, , in extension websites. Once you determine a horse's requirements, then analyze your hay and feeds for what nutrients they provide. This determines if you're feeding program meets or exceeds the horse's needs. There are a variety of websites that allow you to make the calculations automatically or provide step-by-step instructions.
An example of one:. Always be careful not to create an excess of other nutrients when increasing feed ingredient levels. Excesses of some nutrients can inter-act with other nutrients. For example, excess calcium can prevent complete utilization of phosphorus.
Check National Research Council tables for calcium to phosphorus ratios; however, a good rule of thumb is a ratio. In order to make informed decisions about the use of supplementary feeds, you must evaluate the current nutritive value of the ration and whether it meets the requirements of your horse.
If supplementary feeding is necessary, use a minimum number of good-quality feeds this will also help reduce feeding errors if other people have to do the feeding for you at any time.
Do not introduce too much variety to the diet unless it is essential for balancing the ration. Subscribe to Equinews and get the latest equine nutrition and health news delivered to your inbox. Sign up for free now! Search Library Entire Site. Library Section Only. The disadvantage is that the current season's hay should be stored for six months before feeding. You will have to have somewhere to store hay for this period so that it does not become damaged.
Some farms will deliver large loads to you at an extra cost, while others will ask you to arrange your own delivery. The cost of transport may reduce the initial saving drastically. When buying hay, always open one bale from the middle of the load before accepting it. Things to look out for include:.
Does the hay smell sweet? Meadow hay and lucerne hay will be sweeter than oaten hay. Does the hay feel crisp and dry? Damp hay is not properly cured. Good hay is light green to golden. Black hay is very unpalatable and very green hay is very new and needs to be stored for six months more before use.
There must be no mould ie. There should be no debris eg. There should be few weeds. The hay should not smell dusty. Dusty hay can cause respiratory problems in horses. Tousled hay suggests that the hay was rained on and had to be turned many times before it was dried. Good hay will tend to have the strands lying in one direction.
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