DEAR DR. GETTY,

I OWN A BOARDING STABLE AND LATELY IT SEEMS EVERYONE WANTS TO FEED THEIR HORSE SOMETHING DIFFERENT. AS A BOARDING FACILITY, I CAN'T HAVE 12 - 15 DIFFERENT FEEDS ON HAND AND STORAGE SPACE IS ALSO A PROBLEM (LIMITED FEED ROOM SPACE).SO MANY DIFFERENT FEEDS HAS MADE FEEDING A NIGHTMARE. ONE HORSE GETS THIS ANOTHER GETS THAT AND SO ON...IS THERE A GOOD BASIC FEED PROGRAM WHICH WORKS FOR MOST HORSES? MY BOARDERS ARE ALL CASUAL RIDERS AND THE HORSES GET LIGHT TO MEDIUM WORK. ALSO, IS THERE A PELLET FEED WITH A BEET PULP
BASE THAT I MIGHT CONSIDER, I HERE ONLY GOOD THINGS ABOUT BEET PULP SO MAYBE I CAN INCORPORATE THIS INTO MY FEED PROGRAM. SOAKING LARGE AMOUNTS OF BEET PULP IS OK IN THE WINTER BUT IN THE SUMMER IT GETS VERY HOT AND I HAVE HEARD THAT BEET PULP CAN SOUR IN THE HEAT.
ALSO, WHAT IS THE BEST HAY TYPE FOR HORSES. I HAVE READ THAT ALFALFA IS GREAT BUT SOME OF MY BOARDERS SAY IT IS TOO HOT FOR THEIR HORSES AND DON'T WANT ANY GIVE. MOST OF THE ALFALFA I GET IS A 50/50 MIX WITH GRASS AND I ROTATE BALES OF ONE ALFALFA/GRASS THEN ONE T&A. SO THE ROTATION MIXES THE TOTAL CUNSUMPTION TO WHAT I THOUGHT WAS A GOOD MIX OF T&A, ALFLFA AND GRASS EACH DAY. THANK YOU FOR ANY ASSISTANCE.

Where are you from? FLORIDA

How did you locate this forum? SEARCH WEB

Hi Patty,

Yes, having several horses can complicate feeding. Let me give you a few suggestions and if you need to talk in more detail or about individual horses' needs, we can arrange a phone visit.

I prefer low starch feeds for horses that are not intensely worked. There are several on the market, such as Nutrena Safe Choice, Triple Crown Low Starch or Lite, Purina Ultium, Blue Seal Trotter, and Poulin Low Carb.

Beet pulp is an excellent energy source that does not have the danger of grain. You do not need to soak it -- this is a myth that has been carried down through time. Horses are far more likely to choke on pellets than on dry beet pulp because they chew beet pulp more. And, most horses prefer it dry. The only time you'd want to soak it is for a horse that has missing teeth (old horse), or a horse that is not drinking enough water.

About alfalfa -- protein is a very important nutrient and most horse owners do not understand the difference between "crude protein" content and protein quality. Crude protein tells you nothing about the quality of protein -- it is merely a measure of nitrogen. And, if you feed a lot of poor quality protein, it will raise insulin levels and can make some horses "hot." Insulin is the key, and starchy diets cause mood changes in many horses because of it.

Alfalfa is a legume, and when mixed with a grass hay, you create a high quality protein. So, I don't recommend feeding only alfalfa, but a mixture is excellent.

Hope this is helpful.

All the best,

Dr. Getty

Hi Dr Getty, I was very interested in this particular post because I have the exact same thing going on in my barn. I use trotter but was thinking in addition of getting the poulin 10/10 for the older or tb's that need more weight. I was also thinking of using hay stretcher and vitamins for the ones that do not seem to need grain.
What is considered enough of daily vitamins?
How are we to know what is low in carbs when looking at a label and how are we to know what is good protein levels?

Where are you from? Maine

Hi Sass,

Generally, if you feed a complete ration, like you're doing, and feed at the recommended levels, you do not need to add a vitamin/mineral supplement. Sometimes, if a horse has a special need, I recommend specific nutrients for that condition. But, an overall vitamin/mineral supplement is covered by most complete rations.

The way you can tell if is it low starch is too look at the list of ingredients. Ingredients are listed in order of concentration, with the most highly concentrated item listed first. Starch is high in feeds that contain grain such as oats, barley, or corn. For low starch feeds, look for items such as alfalfa meal, soybean meal, soybean hulls, wheat midlings, distillers grains (no starch in this), beet pulp, wheat bran, and/or rice bran.

Protein levels for a healthy, mature horse should be around 12 to 14 percent. Growing horses and pregnant mares need a bit more.

Hope this helps clarify things!

All the best,

Dr. Getty