What horses eat and what to feed them an overview of the feed

Herbivores horses have a particular body structure and individual traits. Some farmers contain them as domestic helpers, while others are grown from them horses for trekking and competition.

But in any case, to grow healthy, functional, beautiful animal, you need to know – what horses eat and how to prepare them diet.

They eat wild horses?

More recently, herds of horses grazed in the meadows and grazing animals was enough. But today, containing horses farmers develop special diets and add special additives that help optimize animal nutrition.

Depends on the nutrition of animals from their habitats. In nature, the main food for them are shrubs and herbs. Living in southern latitudes wild horses feed on roots and soft grasses. In areas with cold climate in winter, animals eat the frozen branches of bushes, bark of trees, dried grass. In the steppes they eat high coarse grasses and stems of plants.

What to feed a horse feed for domestic horses

Those living on the farms horses a way of life, burden and digestion different from those of horses that live in the wild. Ceaselessly they don’t eat, so feed them must be such that the animal satisfied for a long time.

Designed for horses forages are divided into three groups:

• rough;
• juicy;
• concentrated.

Experts recommend in the diet to add sixty to eighty percent of rough and juicy forages and not more than forty per cent concentrated. If you add more concentrated feed, this can cause problems with animal health, because the digestive system of horses is configured to use mainly fiber.

Roughage

Present a three-dimensional feedthat is included in the basic nutrition of horses.

These include:

1. Well-dried grass or hay should be the animals have constant access. Even if the hay has a certain percentage of fresh grass, from the diet does not exclude it. To hay should consist mostly of grass (ryegrass, bromegrass, Timothy, Jerzy team, fescue, Kentucky bluegrass). At the beginning of the growing season these plants have the largest animal value, so at this time they should be harvested and dried.
2. Flour or herbal granules is mowed plants that the drying process takes place under the influence of high temperatures. Then they are pressed. The result is a highly nutritious food with a minimum percentage of humidity.
3. Straw great nutritional value is no different, because after obola and drying only the stems of herbs. Therefore it is added in the ration of volume. Hay straw can not be replaced.

Forage should be harvested on time and is properly stored. They need to create such storage conditions under which the hay and straw will not start and replicate bacterial and fungal rot.

Succulent feed

They belong to the natural diet of horses, because horses use them mostly on pasture:

1. Grass animals can get in the meadows or on the farm where the breeder is feeding their Pets fresh-cut herbs. Different fresh herbs from the meadows much better than mowed plants that are stored for a long period of time. Even with a small violation of the process of storing herbs, they can start to rot. Such putrefactive processes lead to disorders of the digestive system.
2. Vegetables and root crops should be not damaged and not rotting. They contain large amounts of minerals, vitamins, fiber and water. The horses are happy to eat carrots, cucumbers, sugar beets, and boiled potatoes. The potatoes should be sprouted. Give horses vegetables should only mytymi. About half a kilogram per day an animal should be given beet molasses, which will improve the taste of feed. Before using 1.4 kg of molasses was diluted in 4.6 liters of water. As treats to feed the horses can be fruit.
3. Canned grass or haylage. Hermetically canned dried herb contains fifty-five percent moisture. In the diet it should be half as much hay in half the herbs. Horses willingly eat silage, which is rich in fiber and sugars.

Concentrated feed

These foods are often used to bring the exterior of the horse to need condition or for animal feed. Concentrated power serves as “fuel” and under intense loads without it not to manage.

This kind of food come in several forms:

• feed;
• grain mixture;
• whole grains.

Most horses give:

1. Barley. In its composition contains up to sixty percent of starch, so is high in calories. Too much to give barley to the horses is not recommended because it has little fiber. Before the animal feed barley need to steam it. Then it is better digestible.
2. Oats. Everyone knows that horses eat oats, which provides the animal with energy. Therefore, a diet without this kind of food is impossible. There are a lot of fiber, which is not in other grains. The starch in oats contains up to fifty percent. Oats are good for digestion and is quickly digested. With other food it can not be mixed. Young animals and horses with poor teeth oats pre-crushed.
3. Bran contain high amounts of fiber, and their composition has almost no starch. However, protein, vitamins and minerals they also contain little. So bran is used mainly only to increase the amount of diet. On the day the horses give about three and a half kilograms of wheat and rye bran.
4. Corn contains up to seventy percent of starchy substances. Used before physical exertion of animals, since the ability to provide short time energy in reserve. On ordinary days corn give in small amounts.
5. Feed for horses is a concentrated loose or granular feed. It consists of several types of milled grain, premixes, mineral supplements, bran, oil cake, grass meal. Feed can feed the horses with any physical needs.
6. The grain mixture can be prepared at home. To do this, simply mix different kinds of grains, beet pulp or pulp, salt and other ingredients.

To choose the food for feeding horses follows the recommendations of experts.

Proper diet and menu for horses

What quantity of feed you need certain horses can be calculated by knowing the following parameters:

• the live weight of the horse;
• the amount of energy to operate;
• the amount of energy for life;
• the amount of feed to maintain weight;
• the optimal level of protein.

For example, for the animal, which is about six hours a day of medium gravity performs work, it weighs about five hundred pounds, a day you will need:

• root vegetables – 6-8 pounds;
• concentrates – 3-4 pounds;
• straw cutoff – 6-7 pounds;
• hay, 12 pounds.

The amount of concentrates reduce or remove them completelyif the work of the horses is easy.

In emergency food need of the Mare during pregnancy and lactation. The future health of the stallion depends on the mother’s diet.

Therefore, for mares in the day need for every hundred pounds of weight:

• legume or grass hay quality – not less than 4 kg.
• sunflower cake – 1 kg;
• or vegetables for up to six kilos;
• silage to 4 kg.

It is recommended to give concentrate feed, in which barley, oats and corn should be in the ratio of 35:40:25. If the Mare relaxed, her diet should be more concentrate. Before the birth of the stallion in forage should be more than silage. The same nutritional diet should be feeding the stallion, or the Mare can weaken.

Horses eat the sameas adult animals can be given feed grains, hay, meal, bran. As vitamin supplements kids indulge sprouted grain, molasses, carrots. All these foods introduced into the diet after stallion weaned from the mother.

Sport horses should have hay and concentrates. The ratio and quantity depend on the age and weight of the animal, training and competition schedule.

The approximate ration of the horse intended for sporting events:

• herbal granules or flour – 1 kg;
• corn – 1-2 kg;
• hay from legumes and cereals – 7 kilograms;
• salt – 60 grams;
• premixes – 100 grams;
• molasses – 500 grams.

How to feed a horse?

The right diet is the key to animal health.

The basic rules of feeding horses include:

1. Diet should be based on temperament and physical stress horse.
2. The animal must be access to water.
3. You should only feed quality food.
4. Food should be given in an hour after work or other physical activity.
5. Horses quickly become accustomed to the feeding regime, which is supposed to happen at the same time. In compliance with the feeding regime of the horses will be in time to produce the digestive juices that help efficiently digest the food.
6. Before the distribution of grass animals initially watered.
7. Feed the animals should be small meals often, dividing the daily amount. Half of the volume of roughage given day, and the other half at night. First, horses need to eat hay, then grain and succulent feeds.
8. It is impossible to give santeview or wet grass.
9. If the power is supposed to change, then new foods should be introduced gradually and with caution.

After a meal approximately one hour an animal needs to rest.

Watering horses

The animals should always be free to access clean water. In winter horses enough for about twenty gallons of water a day, and in the heat of the liquid volume can reach seventy-five liters. The average intake of water per day for one horse sixty liters.

In the cold season it is necessary to monitor the water temperature, which should not be too cold and especially ice. Otherwise, the pet may get sick. It is not recommended to give water to horses immediately after work or competitions. Sweaty animal it is possible to give only half an hour. Water be sure to give before the horse will eat a concentrated feed.

Treats for horses

For better interaction between horse and human animals can be given various Goodies. This can be done as a reward after work, competitions, or just to pamper your horse.

Horses are happy to eat:

• dried bread;
• watermelons;
• apples;
• carrots;
• bananas and their skins;
• dried fruit pitted;
• sugar.

The animal can be given a small piece of refined sugar, but it is better to replace it with a piece of banana or Apple. In pet stores sell special pet treats for horses, which includes minerals and vitamins. But for animals more useful natural products.

The base diet of horses is created based on the basic rules and regulations, but this should take into account weight, physical activity and other individual characteristics of each animal. And we can’t forget that feed needs to be high quality.