The KISS principle

So, I said last time I'd do a post on feeding. I'm by no means an expert in this department, but I've done a lot of reading of research articles and listened a bunch of different horse people. I would have to say, as a result, that I subscribe to the KISS principle - Keep It Simple, Stupid.

Horses have evolved to eat lots and lots of fibrous, low-nutrient grass, almost continuously across a large area. Unlike cows, who have four stomachs, horses have one smallish stomach and a lot of intestine. As we know, horses seem ridiculously susceptible to all sorts of life-threatening gut issues like colic and twisted bowel. Horses can't vomit and they can't breathe through their mouths, adding to the complexity!

That being said, I like to not feed my horses anything they don't absolutely need. They live on grass 24/7 unless at a comp, and I don't feed grain unless they are in a lot of work and not maintaining condition. Grain appears to be problematic for lots of horses, causing a spike in blood sugar and sometimes causing acidosis of the hindgut. There are lots of articles and books to read about feeding grain. I personally dislike it, but lots of people swear by it and the racing industry would collapse without grain!

What horses eat directly affects their hooves. I've noticed that keeping my horses on a predominantly grass/fibre diet means generally very healthy feet and little or no separation of the wall from the laminae. I feed lucerne hay for the calcium it contains (the ACT area is notorious for its mineral deficiencies) and there was some recent research to show that lucerne assists in reducing the acidity of the hindgut during spring grass flushes. This may help prevent inflammation in the laminae, the frontrunner to full-blown laminitis.

I feed supplements in a dipper of lucerne chaff when my horses are too fat for any other feed and keep a 'horse block' mineral block in the paddock 24/7. The idea is to make sure the horses have the nutrition they need, not the nutrition we think they need. I have to constantly stop myself buying the sexiest new feed just because it looks really good!

There is a lot about 'low-GI' feed around and I'm a believer. I have horses that hold weight easily and don't need the extra energy so low-GI works for them. Seems to be good for their hooves too.

I think that's it. I'll be blogging more about feed as we go up the levels and fitness becomes more of a factor. I'll have to see what works.