The ideal diet: Large grassy pastures
with a great diversity of plants and herbs, including trees, shrubs, bushes,
etc., growing upon them. If the horse lives on varied terrain, he may also
be able to find all the minerals that he needs.
The typical diet: Small, limited
pasture and/or replacement feeds in the form of preserved plants (hay). Also,
such feeds are often mineral poor, and grown on depleted soils. The worst
diets include “meals” for the horse 2-3 times per day (with no access
to hay or anything else to munch on at any other time).
Most important of all: provide all horses with access
to either free-choice grass hay or pasture at all times, or bushes,
weeds, and lower calorie munching (so that a bored horse that doesn't get
enough exercise won't get way too fat.) The horse’s digestive system
is designed for a constant intake of small amounts of food. Anytime a horse’s
gut goes without food for a number of hours, routinely (once in a while, going
without food for half a day or more won't cause a serious problem), the bacteria
inside the intestine can start to die off. After just several hours of an
empty stomach, if this has been a frequent situation, the stomach wall and
lining can actually start to ulcerate. Improper feeding leads to colic, ulcers,
tying-up syndrome, laminitis, etc. It is vital that all horses have access
to roughage 24 hours a day!
To improve the “typical diet,” horses should be
provided with an assortment of free choice minerals. These minerals
should be plain and unflavored, with no tasty additives. Plain single minerals
are good, as long as you know which ones to offer--it is good to have your
ground or hay analyzed to find out what minerals are missing in your horses’
diet. By providing several different minerals offered free choice, the horse
can then balance his own mineral needs. Minerals can be left out 24 hours
per day, or just offered to the horse daily. Always provide free choice
plain salt at all times.
Variety is extremely important! Purchase your hay from
different areas, add raw fruit and vegetable table scraps, safe branches
from fruit trees, herbal mixes made for horses, etc. Be creative in trying
to provide as varied as diet as you possibly can.
If a horse moves less than 20 km per day, he should not need
any grain, as long as he has access to constant pasture or hay. If a horse
does need some grain to keep his condition or energy level, the best choice
is whole oats*. Whole oats are preferable to processed feeds. Avoid feeds
which are processed and contain lots of additives and sugars, stick to natural
food. Grain should be fed at ground level, in small amounts, several times
per day.
Worm infestation is a problem of unnatural living conditions,
when horses in small areas are forced to live close to their manure piles,
and/or when the horse's natural immune system is compromised. It is natural
for all mammals to have a small quantity of worms in their body--this is only
a problem when the number of worms increase greatly and thus become pathogenic.
De-worming should NOT be done as a preventative. Fecals should be taken
when a horse is suspected of worm infestation, and then the horse should be
dewormed with the appropriate medication. There are homeopathic and herbal
worming products, as well as supplement programs that help act as worm preventatives,
without chemical exposure.
This information is provided to complement the diet recommendations
of Dr. Hiltrud Strasser -- however, I personally no longer recommend feeding
oats (or regular grains) to horses, because of the high incidence of EPSM,
Insulin Resistance, Cushings, and other metabolic disorders in our horses
today.
Whole Oats, the Perfect Horse Feed? Part
1
Whole Oats,
the Perfect Horse Feed? Part 2
*Note: Some horses are grain-intolerant, such as EPSM horses,
and should never receive any grain, including oats. Especially if you own
a Quarter horse, draft or warmblood, please visit this webpage http://www.ruralheritage.com/vet_clinic/index.htm
to read all about EPSM (Equine Polysaccharide Storage Myopathy), to know what
symptoms to look for. Other breeds can have this condition, too, so EPSM should
be considered if a horse ties up, is stiff behind, has unexplained back soreness,
or any kind of chronic hind end lameness.
