Happy and Healthy

Concerning  Horse’s Diet.

English: A buckskin Dole Gudbrandsdal horse “Norlys” grazing. Français : Un cheval Dole-gudsbrandsdal à robe Isabelle broute. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Obviously, the most natural thing that a horse can consume is green grass.  It is also the most nutritious thing a horse can ingest.  Grass contains Silica, which promotes dental, hoof,  and bone health.  For most people, it is hard to find fresh green grass in the winter.  These people can buy their horses hay.  Although good hay can be quite nutritious, it still does not have as many health qualities as fresh grass.  Some people supplement their horses with grains, oats being the traditional choice.  Horses can also eat (good) corn but grass seed heads are the closest thing to what horses eat in the wild.  When it comes to grains (or any other food) fresher is better. With all the processing going on nowadays grains can lose much of their nutritional value such as silica.  You can also get your horse concentrate mixes.  These mixes contain things like flax, beet pulp, molasses, bran, vitamins, and minerals, usually to make up the shortcomings in your horse’s diet such as in the winter when the horse is not getting much grass or to give the horse energy.  It is also a good idea to give this mixture to pregnant mares to keep their health up so that their foals will most likely be healthy.  You can also give your horse salts and minerals in the form of a salt block so that your horse can satisfy its cravings whenever it wants.  Just for a little fun fact, reports have shown that horses will usually crave salt more in the summer than in the winter.  So keep your horse happy, healthy, and content with a good diet and plenty of exercise.