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Post by horselover4life on Mar 17, 2015 0:21:03 GMT
Again I received this and thought to share....
www.horsechannel.com/horse-health/does-your-horse-need-grain.aspx
Finally this author puts a amount and why to feed what you feed and why not....
Personally, I do feed grain. A small amount 2x a day, 1/2 pound with their vitamin supplement in it so they will eat it.
And to be honest, when I call the boys in from the grass they come at a 884530 because they know there is something waiting for them they love to eat...for me, better than chasing them on 5 acres!  So, what do you all think of that article??? 
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Post by horselady on Mar 17, 2015 1:26:04 GMT
I read some of the articles with an open mind and sometimes i just shake my head. like this one. if every person stopped feeding grain there are going to be so many skinny horses that the market will crash. i feed grain. bread. hay pellets and hay cubes not to the same horse but to the horse as needed. even the young ones get their grain because not all hay has the minerals and vitamins that the animal needs to survive.  |
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hugs
Junior Member
Posts: 2,647 
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Post by hugs on Mar 17, 2015 2:14:19 GMT
Horses didn't evolve to eat a grain-based diet but grain as a supplement obviously is tolerated well by a lot of horses. Just like anything else,doing something mindlessly is the problem not necessarily the thing itself.
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Post by horselover4life on Mar 17, 2015 10:10:18 GMT
I actually think horses evolved to eat grain...in the purest form. They are and were a grazing animal...
Oats, wheat, barley, corn and many other naturally growing and occurring plants.
The problems began when we stopped allowing them to make the choice of what to eat and how much and started to "feed" them to our standards.
When we domesticated our horses and their ancestors there had to be changes to diet....to their lifestyle and a stop to roaming over hundreds of acres of land to survive.
I look at it like this.... today we have manipulated our food source, making it improved and "better" in near everything grown or raised to be consumed.
At a cost of what though.... our animals now have metabolic issues that hardly ever arose before, add our children are obese and much of the human population also have issues with their health that if you look long and hard far enough back started when we "made it better" or "improved" on Mother Nature...
We have a host of "disease" never seen before..
Today "organic" is what many do.... the land though was improved upon for generations so how "organic" is it except you not spray chemicals for fertilizer and pest control. I know it is much more complicated than that........
I look at the numbers of those human and animal now having diseases, serious diseases, life-threatening and wonder if our improving didn't create a host of other issues???
I took my horses feeding back to as basic as possible, at the cost of raising many eyebrows. They eat good hay and graze on grass. They do receive "grain" so I can give to them what my land and forage lacks to keep them healthy....minerals and vitamins.
I look at these articles as voicing another opinion, not as a "this is how it should be".....
To enlighten...not to say they are right nor wrong....a point of view given,....a opinion.
Then I use my brain, think and try to make the best decision for my animals and my welfare as I can.
We are all very intelligent and need to use that orb atop our shoulders sometimes instead of being spoon-fed "propoganda" that others want you to take as "this is the only way" you read on many other forums...
jmo...
falling off my box.....
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Lipizzan
Junior Member
Europe, Croatia
Posts: 2,572
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Post by Lipizzan on Mar 17, 2015 10:18:47 GMT
Wild horses before domesticated were built to survive in harsh conditions and they were grazing animls because they eated how much they needed and that is it. You can compare it with a cow. If you let a cow to live a whole life in a pasture, she will survive, but if you feed a dairy cow only with grass there is no way that is enough. My horses are riding and driving horses. If I was not giving them oats , and other grain I do feed they would be skin and bouns. It all depends on a horse and his purpose and needs. I saw horses who are pasture horses all they life and eat nothing but what they found in the field , and they seem to look fine.
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hugs
Junior Member
Posts: 2,647
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Post by hugs on Mar 17, 2015 12:23:55 GMT
In nature grain comes with the plant; plenty of long fibers both soluble and nonsoluble. The problem comes with stabled horses without adequate fiber sources. Just like a person can live on hamburgers and french fries, but won't do as well as say eating a California burger  |
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Post by horselover4life on Mar 17, 2015 14:56:48 GMT
OK  ...I'll ask...
CALIFORNIA BURGER...vegetarian {vegan} or something else? Not a name I can say I am familiar with really.
Stabled horses though that are fed properly still rely on the equation of the majority of their food source is hay, long fiber.
Not every place in this nation nor world has pastures to roam their grazing animals on...but fed hay, proper forage it works. Horses thrive and are healthy.
I agree Lip...a working horse needs more than they can get from just regular hay. Feed/grain to help offset the bodies demands for nutrients for muscle and energy must be supplied.
I do have to wonder though if a higher quality of hay and grass, say the protein levels of alfalfa & certain clovers would be enough to provide their body. I truly don't know the answer to that thought as I've "always fed feed/grain" as is customary normal for most of us.
But when you think about it...free roaming horses cover vast amounts of territory all the time, every day. They run and flee predators, fight and play and are just horses. They weather the extremes of climate from blistering hot to freezing cold to over-abundant food and scarcity. They have no farrier for their feet, no vet for vaccinations or injury/sickness. They are not fat by any means, but fit and healthy amount of weight on their body if left alone....I would wonder if a true free roaming horses amount of time spent traveling around using their bodies stored nutrients would equal the amount of time you work your horses say in a day...the rest of the day your horses graze, eat and are cared for... Wild, they may walk more miles for more hours and have a equal amount of energy outlay... Did that make sense?
I would consider my horses to be "pasture puffs and pets" honestly. They get ridden but far from being in heavy work or training, they are recreational fun and I love them.
They adorn my yard with their beauty and provide great fertilizer for my flower beds and vegetable plants I am trying to grow and have a harvest off.
They most certainly could live well off of just the grass and hay I have access to. It makes me feel better to know though that I balanced their nutritional needs with that vitamin & mineral supplement I feed them...and I love to hear them talk to me, whinny when they see us and come running to say hello when called. Makes my heart feel good, it does it does!!
Yikes, another book.... 
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hugs
Junior Member
Posts: 2,647
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Post by hugs on Mar 17, 2015 17:25:46 GMT
California burgers are regular hamburgers and have lettuce, tomato and pickle
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Post by horselover4life on Mar 17, 2015 20:48:54 GMT
California burgers are regular hamburgers and have lettuce, tomato and pickle
Lettuce, tomato, pickle and onion are a normal given extra on the plate around here with your burger and fries.
You can also do a substitute of a garden or Cesar salad for the fries, some charge a few cents extra, others it is a even swap.
Salad for me please, keep the fries.
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hugs
Junior Member
Posts: 2,647
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Post by hugs on Mar 18, 2015 0:56:55 GMT
I want it all!  Today I gave myself a treat and got a small DQ vanilla cone. I literally had to make myself not get a Peanut Buster Parfait. So many times I've gone in to get a cone and came out with the PBP, it's just a shame but not today! I was grabbing onto the door handle to keep myself in check but I did it! I am proud dog-waveI suppose that's silly to some folks but its a big triumph for me. |
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Post by horselover4life on Mar 18, 2015 1:13:54 GMT
Silly....heck no!!
I have a ice cream weakness, my son does, my husband does and my mom has a HUGE weakness for the creamy delight.
Now me...I would of come out with that cone and the PBP. One for each hand so I was balanced.
Hope you enjoyed your treat!! smilie dancing
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hugs
Junior Member
Posts: 2,647
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Post by hugs on Mar 18, 2015 1:35:23 GMT
Silly....heck no!!
I have a ice cream weakness, my son does, my husband does and my mom has a HUGE weakness for the creamy delight.
Now me...I would of come out with that cone and the PBP. One for each hand so I was balanced.
Hope you enjoyed your treat!! smilie dancing
LOL Yeah, yeah, that's all I need, more decadent logic to weaken my resolve LOL I tell you I think of food ALL of the time. Good thing I can drive under the influence  |
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...I'll ask...
Today I gave myself a treat and got a small DQ vanilla cone. I literally had to make myself not get a Peanut Buster Parfait. So many times I've gone in to get a cone and came out with the PBP, it's just a shame but not today! I was grabbing onto the door handle to keep myself in check but I did it! I am proud dog-waveI suppose that's silly to some folks but its a big triumph for me.