Hollywood makes feeding and caring for a horse look so easy in the movies.
After a long day’s ride, the cowboy leads his trusted horse to drink in the river, then removes the saddle and allows his mighty steed to roam free and fill up on pasture grass. The next day the cowboy saddles his healthy, well-rested horse and gallops off to take down the bad guys. Not much to it, really, and there’s an abundance of free grass.
But truth be told, with pasture grass it’s hard to know exactly what is in the forage you are feeding your horse. While pasture grass does supply some vitamins, minerals, fiber, protein and fat, the quantity falls far short of your horse’s natural body requirements.
Adding IFA Safe Horse Conditioner to your horse’s diet will ensure that your animal receives the nutrients required for natural good health and rigorous, high-level daily performance.
Here’s what you need to know about IFA Safe Horse Conditioner and how it can improve your horse’s well-being and vitality.
What is Safe Horse Conditioner?
IFA's Safe Horse Conditioner is a feed designed to give horses balanced nutrients. IFA Safe Conditioner can be used for multiple types of horses, with different activity levels, and gastric challenges. It is a low starch, low sugar feed that is well suited for insulin resistant horses, as well as other horses that tend to get “hot” quickly, and is a great feed for medium to low activity horses with abundant forage supplies.
IFA Safe Conditioner is a supplemental feed, not a complete feed, meaning it must be fed with additional forage source, hay or pasture grass. IFA Safe Conditioner is low in sugar and starch and has no grains or molasses. Its digestible/fermentable fibers act as an alternative energy source.
Depending on your horse’s activity level and performance needs, IFA Horse Conditioners come in many styles and sizes. We recommend feeding a daily quality forage source, and supplemental feed to maintain a balanced diet for your horse. If your horse is preparing for a rodeo, show season or performance schedule, you may consider IFA Gold Conditioner for high activity, performance level horses.
What are the benefits of Safe Horse Conditioner?
IFA Safe Horse Conditioner can benefit all lifestyles of horses, from the working horses to the older, less active horses. Holding off on heavy grains will also keep your horse calm and collected while still delivering balanced nutrition. There are many options, so choose the one you feel your horse needs the most.
Like humans taking a daily vitamin, IFA Safe Conditioner provides extra vitamins, minerals, Omega-3s, Omega-6s, prebiotics, probiotics and healthy fats into your horse’s diet to improve the overall appearance of your horse, including the skin coat for shiny smooth hair. Specifically, biotin—a critical vitamin for your horse—is not abundant in pasture grass. You will typically see results within a few weeks.
Additionally, IFA Horse Conditioners are formulated to promote gut health by ridding the GI tract of unwanted bacteria, increasing feed digestibility, aiding in the reduction of ammonia in the stalls through fecal material, and assisting in warding off inflammation, among other benefits.
When Pasture Grass Alone Isn’t Enough
IFA Safe Horse Conditioner can be added to any diet at any time. Pay attention to your horse’s overall health and if their body condition is below your expectations you can slowly incorporate an IFA Horse Conditioner to best suit their needs. Choose from Safe Conditioner, Gold Conditioner or Senior Conditioner.
Download our Equine Feed Brochure for additional product details and information
If you use your horse for any of the following activities, it will benefit from the additional nutrients that IFA Safe Horse Conditioner provides:
- Daily working on ranches
- Trail riding, mountain terrain riding, hunting season or camping trips
- Rodeos, shows or other competitive events
- Branding times, round up times
- Training and daily workouts that develop horses for ranch work
Pay attention to your horse’s overall health. Notice how your horse feels to the touch, if the skin coat looks dry or silky. Take note of your horse’s performance, whether the animal is tired and dull or full or energy, then supplement and feed accordingly.
Adding an IFA Horse Conditioner will not only boost your horse’s energy but it will ensure prime performance for years to come and a healthy, happy animal. If you have any questions, our IFA experts are trained to help. Don’t hesitate to ask.
Find an IFA Country Store in your area
Information for this article was provided by Dennis Christensen, M.S., P.A.S., Feed & Nutrition Advisor, Draper IFA Feed; Jordan Ellis, Branch Manager, Las Vegas IFA Country Store; Dillon Sorensen, Branch Manager, Ephraim IFA Country Store; and Jill Singleton, Bagged Feed Category Manager, IFA Feed & Nutrition.