02/05/2025
Always !
Friday focus…overweight horses and horses on full turnout need vitamins and minerals too!
Just because a horse or pony is overweight, it does not mean they do not need nutrients!! ‘He’s / she’s fat, they do not need any feed’ is what I hear frequently! Or, ‘my horse is out at grass now, so they will get the nutrients they need nutrients from that’! This is absolutely not the case at all, they still need added vitamins and minerals whether they are overweight or at grass.
Even with access to summer grass and with good quality hay, vital nutrients will still be missing, so providing a good quality vitamin and mineral supplement or feed balancer will bridge that gap and ensure their body is still getting the nourishment needed for overall health and well-being. It is even more important if you are soaking hay and they have no access to grass; you can’t take everything out and put nothing back in! You only need a little chaff and / or mash to put their balancer or vits and mins into (depending on which you are feeding), so their feeds are not going to contribute to weight gain if you are worried about that!
I get so disheartened at times as you would not believe how many times I hear ‘he / she is a native / good doer, they don’t need any feeds’. So many people see feeds as extra’s they don’t need, particularly at this time of the year when they are spending longer out! But they do need them, they still need a good base diet, just like we do to thrive!
So if anyone tells you that your horse or pony does not need their nutrients requirements meeting and that they should not need any feed due to their weight or the time of year (which I get sick of hearing!), I would definitely not take their advice and carry on feeding your balancer or vitamin and mineral supplement. Remember, these need to be fed at the recommended rate all year round!
