MYTHS AND WIVES’ TALES OF FEEDING HORSES SOME TRUTH, SOME FICTION

STEPHEN G. JACKSON - Kentucky Equine Research, Inc., Versailles, Kentucky, USA

“Oh, but if you don’t soak beet pulp before you feed it, it will swell up in the stomachand cause it to rupture.” This is but one of the countless wives’ tales concerning the feeding of horses. Almost every one has been exposed to these tidbits of wisdom that “everyone that has fed a horse surely knows.” There are more of these anecdotal, pseudo-true myths surrounding horse feeding than seen associated with any other class of livestock including man. Where do these truisms come from, are they founded in any fact, why do they persist and does it really matter? In this paper I would like to discuss a number of the more prevalent myths and wives’ tales and at least from my perspective “set the record straight.” We might as well start with the oldest and most common of them all! 

 This is just the first paragraph, the rest of this article is in this PDF file.

Feeds for Horses - A Review

DR. PETER HUNTINGTON, KENTUCKY EQUINE RESEARCH (AUSTRALASIA)

Horse owners have a bewildering array of natural feeds, processed feeds and prepared feeds available to them and it is often difficult to determine what to feed a horse. This article is a guide to what various feedstuffs contain and to help the owner choose the most appropriate feeds for each horse.

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Get the Scoop on Feed Forms

A hundred years ago, feeding horses was simple. Farmers and trainers went to the feed store, bought a bag of oats or corn, and gave their horses a scoop or two every day. Nutrition management isn’t as easy for today’s horse owner, who is faced with a seemingly endless and bewildering array of sweet feeds, pelleted feeds, and extruded products, not to mention supplements to nourish or enhance every segment of the horse’s mind and body. Even the old-fashioned oat diet has become much more complicated: feed mills still offer whole oats, but owners can also ask for crimped, cracked, crushed, rolled, ground, steamed, roasted, or even naked oats. It’s common for new horse owners to seek feed management advice from their more experienced horse-owning friends, a practice that may yield conflicting information. However, careful consultation with a feed dealer usually shows that there is at least one, and probably several, “right choices” for any equine. Forage (grass or hay) should be the foundation of every horse’s diet, but some type of concentrate must often be added to meet a particular horse’s energy requirements for growth, exercise, or reproduction. Extruded, pelleted, or sweet feeds can all provide energy, and each feed form has other attributes that owners should consider as they look for the best products to suit their animals. Examining the pros and cons of each type of feed can clarify the decision. 

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