In order to get the best performance possible out of a horse, proper nutrition is absolutely essential. Whether the horse is training for competitive riding or just leisure riding, good nutrition helps create and maintain a healthy horse. What basic things must each horse owner take into account to help create a healthy diet? These are a few:
There is one fruit and one vegetable that must be a staple of every horse’s diet. Carrots are important as a balancing food in the diet and can help the horse maintain his eyesight into old age. Even more important than that are the apples. Apples have long been a favorite of horses and for good reason. Whether red or granny smith, apples help make a healthy horse.
Obviously, horse feed is an important aspect of each horse’s diet. There are plenty of good horse foods out on the market, so finding a good one is not much of a challenge. These should be filled with oats, grains, and oils in order to help the horse remain healthy. Simply providing this horse feed is not enough, though. Good horse owners add a little something to the bucket in order to provide the best for their animal.
Cod liver oil should be mixed into the food each time it is served. This nutritious oil is full of vitamins, which help supplement the horse’s diet. In addition to that, molasses can be mixed in with dry horse feed.
In order to truly be healthy, horses need their fair share of salt. Since it is not feasible to salt their food, horse owners need to think of other options. Most tack shops sell a horse lick, which is designed especially for horses. It is important to get the horse version, as there are also salt licks designed for cattle.
One secret food can help horses retain their energy. If you put your horse through a lot of activity during the day, it will undoubtedly get tired. In order to rejuvenate the horse, an owner must use a combination of foods. One of the best foods for this energy boost is the red beet. Horses won’t particularly like beets unless they are first soaked in water. This healthy food is full of energy and nutrients that every active horse needs, though.
One question that many horse owners have is about the oats that they feed the horse. Oats are a valuable part of any horse’s diet, but horses can not live on oats alone. Since oats have a highly unbalanced level of calcium and phosphorous, they must be combined with hay or alfalfa sprouts in order to keep the horse healthy. Added as a supplement, oats can be good for horses, though.
Proper horse nutrition is difficult to attain, because it requires meticulous planning and constant attention to detail. Horses need lots of different things in order to thrive, so owners must always be conscious of new trends in the horse industry.
Patricia Reszetylo has been a horse crazy kid since 1978. She now operates http://www.EquineTeleseminar.net where she interviews other equestrians on a variety of horse health, training and equine business topics “By Request”. Visit http://EquineTeleseminar.net/free.htm for your own free copy of a telepak (audio and transcript) from the most popular horse health call of 2006. You don’t want to miss out on this important information!
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