|
Feeding Your Horse
|
|
HOME | BIOLOGY | FILMS | GEOGRAPHY | HISTORY | INDEX | MUSIC | SOLAR BOATS | SPORT | SPONSORS |
|
FEEDING Eating and sleeping are the most important
things for a horse in the wild where it roams in the protection of
the flock and grazes most of the time. The horse has a very small
stomach and no gall-bladder and is not made for storing a lot of
food in its stomach. One of the basic rules for the feeding is
therefore that the horse needs to be fed several times a day,
preferably four times. The feed is usually divided into bulk feed
(e.g. hay, hay briquettes and straw), succulent feed (e.g.
molasses, silage, carrots and mangel-wurzels), feed concentrate (e.g.
oats, barley, bran, corn, oil concentrates and concentrate pellets),
mineral feed, a saltlick for horses (not the same as
for cows) and vitamin feed (e.g. cod-liver oil and brewers’
yeast). Hay is the horse’s basic feed and there is
a big variation when it comes to its nutritive value. Oats, which
are the most suitable feed concentrate, contain little protein so
one has to also provide the horse with a
supplementary feed that is rich in protein. The feed concentrate is generally given three
times a day. The first feed should be done
early so that the horse gets time to digest the feed for a
couple of hours before work starts. Hay is mostly given as night feed or it is
distributed during the day, so that the horse always has something
to chew when it is in the stall. Feeding should be altered according to the
horse’s race, size, age, and the amount of work it is doing etc. The quality of the feed also has an influence
on the horse’s composition.. Horses often have a very personal way
to eat and their well-being depends on having their meals in peace
and in a comfortable environment. WATERING The
drinking water has to be clear, fresh and clean - running water is
the best. A horse’s need of water depends on the water content of
the feed, the outside temperature, and the kind of work the horse
does. A medium-sized horse normally drinks 30 to 40 litres per 24
hours, but can, depending on the circumstances, easily drink 50-60
litres of water per 24 hours. Usually watering needs to be done
three to four times a day. If it is very hot and the horse needs to
work hard, it has to be watered more often. The watering has to be
done before the feeding and is best provided by automatic water
bowls, so that the horse has a continual access to water. If the
watering is done inside from a trough, the horse needs to be lead
both to the trough and from it - the horse must on no account be let
loose, as it can easily slip on the stable floor and hurt itself. If
the horse is watered from a bucket in the stall, it is important to
remember to take away the bucket as soon as the horse has drunk its
fill, so that the horse does not hurt itself. If the horse is very sweaty or breathless, it needs to rest for a while before it is watered. If the water is cold one can either put hay or straw on the water surface, so that the horse cannot drink faster or leave the bit in its mouth.
|
|
HORSE SANCTUARY UK LIMITED is a company with charitable objects Registered in England and Wales No. 4593172
|
|
AUTOMOTIVE | BLUEBIRD | ELECTRIC CARS | ELECTRIC CYCLES | SOLAR CARS |
