Vitamins and supplements have created a rage in the health and fitness world and the same can be said for equine athletes. Horse feeds and supplements line the shelves of local farm stores all promising better performance in your four-legged partners.
With so many horse feeds available, it’s important to understand the impacts of balanced nutrition and equine needs before incorporating a new supplement or feed into your horse’s diet.
What are Horse Feeds and Supplements?
Horse feeds are often referred to as supplements because they supply nutrients such as fats, protein, vitamins and minerals that are often lacking in hay and pasture forages. Adding a horse feed supplement to your equine's diet helps create a balanced total ration to meet daily nutrient requirements. Feed supplements are not formulated to be fed as a “total ration” meaning they should be fed in addition to a quality source of forage.
What Makes a Quality Horse Feed?
When shifting through the stacks of equine supplements, it is important to identify essential characteristics that make a quality horse feed.
Essential Nutrients
Horse feed supplements should provide optimal levels of protein, fat, vitamins and minerals to help maintain the horse’s body condition. Energy is an important nutrient for equines. A higher energy level is required for horses that are growing, gestating and lactating or being used for high performance. Protein is also necessary for growth and performance as it supplies muscle growth and recovery when the equine is being used for high performance. Additionally, vitamins and minerals are used in nearly all processes occurring in the body. Supplementing vitamins and minerals will allow for optimum performance by the animal.
Digestive Health
An equine feed supplement should provide added benefits for the horse’s health beyond supplying nutrients. Added prebiotics and probiotics help stimulate appetite and maintain a healthy digestive system. A quality feed that contains prebiotics and probiotics will further enhance your horse’s overall health.
Balanced Nutrition
Most importantly, a quality feed supplement must provide proper balanced nutrition to your equine athletes. An even balance of nutrients should complement your horse’s rations and lifestyle. By selecting a quality feed that completes a balanced ration, you know that your horse is receiving the necessary tools to perform.
Choosing a Horse Feed
Age
Equine feeds help provide specific nutrients for animals at different life stages. Young, growing animals have different nutrient requirements than mature and even senior horses. Consider the age and nutrient requirements of your equines when adding a feed supplement to your rations. When you consider the age of your equines, find a feed that is labeled and formulated for the specific needs of that animal.
Activity Level
The number one reason to incorporate a feed supplement into your total rations is for high-performance levels. Horses that are active require the appropriate nutrients to maintain health and peak performance. Identifying an ideal performance feed requires considering your specific goals for the horse and its overall health. Generally, high-performance feeds are high in carbohydrates.
Body Condition
When a horse’s nutrient requirements are being met, the equine will maintain a healthy body condition and hair coat. Generally, a horse’s ribs should not be easily visible but should be easily felt with an ideal body condition score. A healthy equine will also display good appetite and be overall content. Horses that are not active and only using energy for maintenance generally do well on a forage diet. However, If your low-activity horses are not meeting your ideal weight or condition standards on hay alone, consider adding feed supplement to the ration of your “hard-keepers”.
Health Factors
Equines with existing health factors such as metabolic issues require specialized feed formulations. Horses with metabolic or other health factors cannot digest or use feeds that are high in carbohydrates. Instead, locate a feed that is labeled for animals with metabolic conditions.
IFA Equine Supplements
Even the best quality forages lack essential trace minerals and nutrients. Supplementing forage with an IFA equine feed helps meet your horse’s nutrient requirements for a more balanced total ration.
IFA Safe Horse Conditioner
IFA Safe Conditioner is an all-natural feed, grain-free and low-sugar feed for horses with unique dietary needs, including insulin-resistance. This supplemental feed is locally formulated with highly digestible ingredients for horses of all lifestyles. IFA Safe Horse Conditioner is enhanced with Omega-3s for better health and yeast to increase digestibility and optimal fiber utilization.
IFA Gold Horse Conditioner
IFA Gold Conditioner is an all-natural feed formulated with nutrition for performance horses or horses with an active lifestyle. It is balanced to be fed with alfalfa hay. This active equine feed is enhanced with Omega-3s for better health, yeast to increase digestibility and nutrient absorption and 13% protein for muscle development and recovery in active horses.
IFA Senior Horse Conditioner
IFA Senior Horse Conditioner is an all natural feed formulated with balanced nutrition for mature horses with all lifestyles. Advanced with Omega-3s for better health, this feed supplement increases digestibility and optimal fiber utilization. Senior Conditioner is formulated with 15% protein for muscle maintenance in aging horses. The feed’s pellet form minimizes sorting and delivers the same nutrition in every bite.
Growing Healthy Horses with IFA
Grow the horses you love with nutritious feeds and supplements from IFA. Visit your local IFA Country Store for equine tack, vet supplies and forage and feed supplies. Talk to a member of our knowledgeable staff if you have any questions about your horse’s health and nutrition programs.
Information for this article was provided by Dennis Christensen, M.S., P.A.S., Feed & Nutrition Advisor, Draper IFA Feed; Heidi Simper, M.S., Nutritionist, IFA Feed and Nutrition; and Jill Singleton, Bagged Feed Category Manager, IFA Feed & Nutrition.