24/07/2023
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Please be aware when you are asking a nutritionist for help, that they do make it clear that if you don't have a pasture or hay test for your forage, the recommendations will have to be very, very general and non specific. Using estimates for any type of forage, pasture in particular is of no help to know what the actual nutrient profile is. There is simply too much variation. I have been shocked seeing the claims well meaning people are making about how many mg copper, how much zinc and the rest of the nutrient profile on very flimsy assumptions, and thinking that it must be true seeing the numbers printed on a page.
If you are feeding a small amount of hay, say around 1-2 kg then it's no big deal as it isn't the bulk of the intake. Especially lucerne as it tests reliably high in protein and calcium, relatively low in phosphorus.
Only way to know what the nutrient levels are in the intake, and then to know what needs to be fed to correct deficiencies and correct imbalances (mineral ratios), is to have your forage tested in a lab. Without that data, it's all a blind guess. Plenty will say they can tell you what to feed or if a product will provide what a horse needs but it's simply marketing.
You may need to feed more, for example, calcium, or phosphorus, or have too much of one or both. No way of knowing without nutrient data for the whole intake.
My mineral mix formulations are based on thousands of pasture and hay tests so that we can have an educated guess at what is most likely needing to be boosted.
Another question often asked is what are the best feeds for horses. It's really simple - high fibre feeds which is what the digestive system of horses evolved on. If you want gut health, think about the quality of what you are feeding. This is not saying that all the recommendations from reports based on dodgy estimates can't be helpful. Of course not but we can't say the intake is balanced if there is no actual data.
When I am asked, I am very happy to provide this advice for free.
What to feed?
Fibre and the products of fermentation are a vital source of energy, protein and vitamins. Fibre plays a huge role in immune system responses, fertility, gut health, preventing colic, and well being. There are many horses on gut supplements who wouldn't need them if they were on high fibre intakes. High fibre feeding suits all horses, all categories from performance horses to breeding horses to actively growing young horses to horses in no work. We do know that copper and zinc, and often iodine are too low in forage, testing is the only way to know what other nutrients are in excess and what are deficient. More information here: https://balancedequine.com.au/mineral-interactions/
Premix commercial bagged feeds can help but their feeding recommendations never take into account mineral interactions, and when a concentrate (high in grain and/or high in starch with brans) is fed, the high energy value can 'cheat' the horse of nutrients from fibre sources.
Ideally, what we feed a horse should be high in soluble fermentable fibre, what a horse's digestive system evolved on. When hay and grass are not enough to support a horse the next choice is either beet pulp, soybean hulls or lupin hulls or a combination. For a horse in work that can experience fatigue, any of these feeds can be combined 1:1 with whole oats to produce a steady release of energy (safer than barley).
However, the only way to know if any one feed is the best for your horse's situation is to base it on data, either the pasture and/or hay, whichever is applicable. Programs that offer 'estimates' for hay or pasture nutrient levels are not reliable, way too much variation. If you are unable to test, and I sympathise, then do the next best thing, choose a high fibre feed rather than low fibre, high starch junk feed. You can use a program to guide your choices but always see it as a guess.
The following feeds are ideal; Speedi-beet, Hygain Micrbeet, Energreen Maxisoy, Hyfeed HyFibre, Benchmark Perfect Mash, Super Fibre Mash, QPD Relax Super Fibre Plus, KISS Horsecare Simple Fibre in WA, Hygain Fibressential, T&R Lupin Fibre Cubes, CEN Grain Free, CEN Lupin+ (the T&R and CEN feeds are mainly lupin hulls, not lupins). Other choices are Prydes EasiFibre, Prydes EasiKeeper or Prydes EasiSport.
If the horse is insulin resistant (IR)/equine metabolic syndrome (EMS) then the safest low sugar + starch choices are Speedi-beet, Hygain Micrbeet (both beet pulp), Energreen Maxisoy, Benchmark Super Fibre Mash, Benchmark Perfect Mash, Hyfeed HyFibre (soybean hulls) and Thompson and Redwood Lupin Fibre Cubes, QPD Produce Relax Super Fibre Plus, CEN Grain Free (lupin hulls).
If needing more protein for low protein hay, the following higher protein lupin hull feeds are suitable if fed in small amounts,
