Part 1 in our in-depth 2 part series on Horse Supplements
What Supplements Do Horses Need?
There are several factors that determine what horse supplements are needed for Australian horses.
Your horse has evolved over millions of years (55 million to be precise!) to utilise the nutrients available in a forage diet.
However, when compared to other equids, like donkeys, horses are relatively wasteful in terms of nutrient absorption. They not only can’t metabolise forages as efficiently, they also tend to pee and poop out quite a lot of nutrients.
Whilst this is good news for gardens – horse manure is great garden mulch – it’s not so great for you, the horse’s owner!
In particular, it means that your horse very likely requires some type of horse feed supplement, regardless of diet.
That being the case, the question is – what supplements do horses need?
**This article does not constitute medical advice. Please consult your equine veterinarian for profession advice on horse supplements.
The Factors that Influence what Horse Supplements are Needed
What horse supplements are needed depends on several things…
The first is age
Young growing horses – foals, weanlings, yearlings, 2 & 3 year olds – have different nutritional requirements to mature horses.
Pregnant and lactating mares likewise require a different balance of nutrients to dry mares. Horses in work need more supplements than horses that are not.
Geriatric horses are different again.
And so on…
The second is diet
Horses that only eat forages (hay and/or grass) typically benefit from a good all-round balancer supplement that is designed specifically to top up nutrients lacking in hay and/or grass forages.
These are available as balancer pellets, loose licks, or concentrated supplement products.
Horses that get a hard feed as well as forages will need a supplement that balances out the forages and whatever is in their hard feed.
Grains for example have a different nutrient profile to pelleted and pre-mixed horse feeds, which contain added minerals and vitamins.
One advantage of pelleted and pre-mixed feeds is that feeding them at the manufacturers recommended rate for your horse’s size, age, weight, and work will usually provide the right balance and quantities of essential nutrients.
Overall Health and Body Condition
Your horse’s overall health and body condition also determines what supplements s/he needs.
Horses with metabolic disorders and conditions such as Equine Cushings Disease, Equine Metabolic Syndrome, founder etc have very specific dietary and nutritional requirements.
These will influence your choice of supplement for them.
Some other disorders that likewise require careful dietary and supplement management include:
PSSM (Polysaccharide Storage Myopathy)
HYPP (Hyperkalemic Periodic Paralysis)
RER (Recurrent Exertional Rhabdomyolysis)
MFM (Myofibrillar Myopathy)
Why Feed Your Horse Equine Feed Supplements?
Horse nutrition supplements are designed to help address mineral deficiencies in standard horse diets.
Although most common pelleted and pre-mix feeds do contain essential minerals and vitamins, they often have to be fed in large quantities if used as the primary supplement source.
In some instances, this may be up to 3 or 4 kilos for big horses, which can get expensive!
This is where products like balancer pellets and mineral supplements come in.
These concentrated products can be fed in small quantities to top up, or balance out, a standard or forage only diet.
As mentioned, if your horse is mostly fed hay or lives in a nice grassy paddock and needs very little extra food, you can balance out his/her mineral intake by providing…
A handful of balancer pellets (use as directed on the product label)
A small hard feed containing a mineral supplement, or
Free access to a LOOSE mineral lick.
Horse Mineral Blocks
Mineral blocks, although popular, have several issues for horses.
The primary one is that horses do not have rough tongues like cattle and sheep so struggle to ‘lick up’ enough minerals from hard mineral blocks.
It’s also hard to monitor how much nutrients they’re getting too.
The second issue is that many of these blocks contain molasses so horses tend to treat them like giant horse lollipops!
They’ve been known to chew through a 5kg block in 24 hours!
So, if you want to use a mineral block lick, either choose one that doesn’t contain molasses (but then you risk your horse not using it at all) OR restrict access to the block. Or consider using a loose lick instead…
Incidentally, NEVER give a horse access to mineral licks designed for cattle and sheep. They often contain urea, which can be toxic to horses if consumed in large enough quantities!
Always read the packaging, and do not use it unless it says it’s safe for horses.
Does Your Horse Really Need Horse Supplements?
Nearly ALL domestic horses, and ponies, DO require some type of feed supplement. There are several reasons for this…
Grazing Restrictions
Their grazing range is restricted, and therefore restricted to whatever forages are available in that range i.e. in their paddock.
Many horse paddocks, particularly in agistment centres and around metropolitan areas, are overgrazed and/or consist of tropical grasses like Kikuyu.
These grazing environments create nutritional problems that must be managed properly i.e. with appropriate supplements.
Soil types
Soils influence the nutritional quality of the forages grown in them so many forages in and of themselves are not nutritionally complete foods for horses.
They either fall short in some essential nutrients, or are excessively high in others, like iron.
Soils in Western Australia for instance are low in selenium, which is why most horses feeds and supplements produced in that state contain added selenium.
Looking after the soil and correcting mineral deficiencies in that can help improve the nutrient profile of forages grown in it, reducing the need to rely on supplements in feeds.
In most cases though horse owners should consider feeding a supplement that has been designed to suit their local soil conditions.
Key Takeaways About What Horse Supplements Your Horse Needs
What supplements do horses need, or more importantly, what supplement does your horse, or pony, need, depends on many factors.
When trying to decide on the right supplement, consider your horse’s age, health, workload, current diet, and lifestyle.
Read labels, and talk to an equine nutritionist if possible.
Note too that some feed manufacturers offer a diet analysis service and will recommend products to help address any issues.
