Draft Horse

1. 3 Responses to “What is the proper diet for my 8 year old appaloosa\draft gelding horse?”

2. By sugarmamacnq on Apr 9, 2010 | Reply

   There are a lot of excellent feeds available. We use Triple Crown, but there ar many varieties just of that brand to suit the needs of different horses.

   Check out. Pony Boy is a horse trainer. There is a forum there with horse lovers that should be able to help you a lot.

3. By Jenn on Apr 12, 2010 | Reply

   I do not know is condition from what you said but I would find a good maintenance feed for him. I would start off with good pasture and supplement with good quality grass hay if he cannot get enough nutrition from that. Then I would look into grains. I would go with a maintenance grain and feed about 2lbs morning and night, this grain tends to be 12% protein, they do have 10% protein also. Go with a pellet feed if your horse tends to be a bit more on the hyper side and sweet feed if he needs something a little tastier. Monitor how he does over a month and adjust accordingly. Also you may need different supplements if your horse has joint or hoof issues.

4. By Trainer0KidzNponies on Apr 14, 2010 | Reply

   Remember that diet is often ruled by body weight. I will assume he weight 1000lbs for these calculations. I am also assuming a moderate work load of 3-4 days of work a week or around 10 hours of work where the animal is working above a walk.

   80% of his caloric intake should be hay and forage. of that 80% at least 50% of it will need to be hay. Orchard grass or Timothy is a good bet. If the horse is working more than moderate you may bump the hay up a notch to a alfalfa mix.

   The other 50% of the 80 should be grass. Its tragic, but most boarding places do not cater to the actual needs of a horse. Horses need at the very least 8 hours of grazing a day. 12-24 hours is most desirable. If he is out grazing hop on the internet and search for soil quality and the minerals your area lacks. If your area is lacking vital minerals give him a mineral block outside. If not, let him be.

   Should your horse be where there is not enough grazing or none:
   10lbs of hay per day broken into at least 2 meals.

   If he does graze 8+ hours:
   7-8 lbs of hay per day broken into at least 2 meals.

   Now onto grain. If he is under moderate work with average feeding requirements he should only need 10-12% protein feed. any higher and you will run into trouble. For a 1000lbs horse he would most likely need 5 lbs of grain split into two meals of 2.5 lbs. watch the starch intake. Pellet only, sweet feed is not needed. Do not feed this horse corn.

   Now, use a weight tape and try to figure your horse’s body condition. A healthy horse should have a thin layer of fat and enough muscle that bones and ribs do not show on the body. However, the ribs should be easily felt. If you can not feel the ribs through the fat layer your horse is too fat. If you can see some ribs he needs a fat and caloric boost.

   Over weight animal- always cut grain, do not cut forage or hay

   Under weight animal- Adding well soaked beet pulp, or 1oz of oil as well as a boost in hay will help.

   using a good quality feed will prevent use of suppliments. Should this horse start working heavily (every day for hours of trotting, canter, jumping etc.) then a huge boost in food and protein is needed but it doesn’t sound like this horse is working to that degree.

   Bottom line-
   7-10lbs of forage, mineral block, 2-4 lbs of feed, and 8 hours+ of grazing will keep your horse healthy and happy. adjust as needed if work increases or decreases. Adjust feed over a period of weeks for best results.

   good luck

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