Question
I have two older horses that are not ridden much. They will receive plenty of good-quality hay this winter, but I don’t know how much grain they should receive. Can you help, please?
Answer
How much grain you feed your two horses in the winter depends largely on their individual metabolisms.
If your horses are easy keepers and able to maintain moderate body condition on hay alone, they may need nothing more than a daily vitamin and mineral supplement or a balancer pellet to ensure optimal health.
If, on the other hand, they are not easy keepers or the severity of the weather dictates more calories to hold body condition, a concentrated feed might be necessary.
Feed manufacturers are required to place feeding directions on the feed bag or tag. They usually provide an acceptable feeding range for the product. For mature, idle horses, for example, a maintenance feed might have a feeding rate of five to ten pounds per day. By feeding the minimum, you are ensuring that the protein, vitamin and mineral needs of the horses are being met in addition to some calories. You can then offer additional feed to supply further calories. Once you hit the upper limit of the manufacturer’s recommendation for that feed, you should probably choose a more energy-dense feed (such as a senior feed or a performance feed), add a high-fat supplement (such as vegetable oil or stabilized rice bran), or find hay of higher quality in order to boost energy consumption.
If your horses’ energy needs are greater than that of a hay/balancer diet but not as high as the minimum on the feeding range for the product, you can still use the feed but should top-off the feed with a vitamin and mineral supplement or a reduced amount of ration balancer.
One important aspect of wintertime management is access to water. Make sure both of your horses have water available to them at all times.
Keeping track of a horse’s weight visually is more difficult in the winter than in warmer seasons because of thick winter coats, so assess condition periodically (every week or so) by feeling for ribs. A horse in moderate body condition has a covering of fat, not just skin, over the ribs. If the fat covering begins to melt away as winter progresses, steps should be taken to increase the horse’s energy consumption. With older horses it is especially wise to keep a close eye on condition, as they can use up energy reserves quickly and they sometimes have a more difficult time recovering from weight loss, especially in winter.
Micro-Max is a low-intake concentrated source of vitamins and minerals for mature horses. Micro-Max is ideal for horses that maintain body weight on diets composed entirely of forage or forage and small amounts of concentrate. Learn more.
