Body condition refers to the amount of fat on a horse’s body. Fat is tissue that serves to store energy and is produced when the horse is digesting more …
Top Ten Nutrition Tips for Your Horse
Top 10 Nutrition Tips
- Always supply unlimited quantities of clean, fresh water.
- Maximize forage intake.
- Minimize concentrate consumption.
- The Calcium to Phosphorous ratio (Ca:P) should be between 3:1 to 1:1.
- Supplement minerals and vitamins.
- Balance a horse’s ration in the following order: energy, protein, minerals, vitamins.
- Monitor your horse’s body weight and body condition
Feeding the Newborn Foal
Colostrum: The Foal’s Most Important Meal
Colostrum is the first milk secreted by the mare immediately before foaling and up to 24 hours after foaling. It contains extremely high levels of antibodies, which are large protein molecules capable of transmitting immunity against disease. Colostrum is nature’s …
Feeding Orphan Foals
Horsemen faced with raising an orphan foal have two possibilities for providing adequate nutrients. These solutions include bonding the foal to a nurse mare or providing a supplemental milk source …
Feeding Management of the Equine
Often, it is the way rations are fed rather than their composition that leads to digestive …
Cold Weather Feeding Practices for Horses
The Impact of Cold Weather

Nutritional Considerations for Broodmares
Mare and Foal
The success of any breeding program depends partially on correct nutritional management of broodmares. Past history reveals the common use of many different nutritional management practices for broodmares. Many of these …
Evaluating Rations for Horses
Introduction
Horses are fed a variety of feeds. Diets range from 100 percent pasture forage to 100 percent completely processed mixes. Most horses are fed forage …
High Fat Diets for Horses
The Benefits
On high-fat diets, horses perform longer without fatiguing, incur fewer injuries, and maintain body weight with less grain intake, while maximizing forage intake. Adding fat to a horse’s diet permits safe weight gain …