Finding quality feed sources for your steed at the height of a WA summer can be a challenge. With temperatures hitting the 40s your horses will need a little extra help staying happy and healthy during the heat. Just like we change our summer diet in an effort to stay cool, so should horses. This guide will give you an overview of what to consider to ensure that your horse has optimal nutrition and stays happy over summer.
Quality Forage Alternatives
As pastures become sparse, supplementing your horse’s diet with high-quality forage alternatives becomes crucial. Quality hay can be difficult to find at the end of summer. We stock small lucerne square bales and small wheaten square bales available at FarmCo Moora. These offer essential fibre and nutrients to support your horse’s dietary requirements.
Cooling Feeds
Horses generate internal heat as they digest food and certain nutrients can influence this thermal load. Consider incorporating feeds with cooling properties to mitigate the impact of hot weather.
Carbohydrates versus fats
Carbohydrates, such as those found in grains and forages, contribute to the thermal load during digestion. While they provide energy, the breakdown process generates heat. On the other hand, fats have a lower thermal effect during digestion compared to carbohydrates. Including fat-rich sources in your horse’s diet can provide a concentrated energy source without significantly increasing the heat generated.
Tailor your horse’s diet to meet their energy needs while minimising the heat generated during digestion.
Supplementation
If your horses need a vitamin and mineral boost to compensate for the limitations that are sometimes associated with a dry food diet, we stock:
- Multivite Orange Multi Mineral Lick Blocks (20kg) which supply the essential minerals of calcium, phosphorus and sulphur as well as trace elements and molasses.
- Advanced Feeds Vitamin E Liquid Concentrate which can be conveniently mixed into your horse’s food to maintain vitamin E levels where necessary over dry feed periods.
Feed Recommendations
Lupin
Customers rave about the health benefits of lupins because of its protein, fibre and low glucose index carbohydrate content. We stock Thompson and Redwood (T&R) Lupin Fibre Cubes because of the great benefits:
- Quality essential amino acid proteins which are lower in sugar and starch than lucerne and cereal chaffs.
- Natural pectins and super fibres which keep your horse’s gut healthy and support good gut bacteria.
- A slow feed down in the digestive system, maximising absorption and hindgut fermentation.
- Being more cost-effective than chaff.
- Soak the cubes before feeding to allow them to expand – feed a lower volume but give your horse a good gut fill.
- 100% Western Australian grown.
Grain Free Horse Pellets
If your horse needs more protein, fibre, vitamins and minerals, and less sugar in its diet, T&R’s Claytons Grain Free Horse Pellets is a good option. The benefits include:
- Easily digestible pellets.
- Formulated to meet the nutritional requirements of horses.
- Made in WA.
- Convenient and cost effective 20 kg bags.
How much to feed
While horses do need a considerable amount of food, the size of a horse’s stomach is small relative to the size of their body. Thompson & Redwood recommend that the maximum amount you should offer your horse in any one feed is:
- 8 litres for a 500 kg horse – two-thirds of the horses’ stomach volume. Include no more than 2 kg of concentrate or grain.
- 3 – 4 litres for a 250 kg pony. Ensure proportionately less concentrate or grain.
This ensures that undigested food is not getting pushed into your horse’s small intestine before your horse has got the benefit from it and prevents digestive upsets.
Horses benefit from smaller feeds that are available more regularly.
No one likes to be bothered by flies while they are eating, horses included, so we recommend Troy Repel-X 500ml Spray which treats and repels flies and a number of other nuisance insects. Flyaway spray can be applied both to your horse and its surroundings. It contains lavender oil for a more pleasant smell compared to other fly repellent/treatment products.
Adequate Hydration
The key to keeping your horse healthy over summer is hydration. Cue the old adage: you can lead a horse to water, you can’t make them drink. Here are our tips for encouraging your steed to stay hydrated:
- Provide ample fresh water (they can tell when it’s not fresh).
- Cool the water.
- Consider adding electrolyte supplements to replenish essential minerals lost through sweating.
- Soak feed.
- Provide salt.
Hydration is the foundation for overall well-being and performance.
Ensuring that your horse remains in optimum condition over a hot summer requires a proactive approach with a strong focus on the correct nutrition. Each horse is unique, and their nutritional needs may vary. Regularly monitor your horse’s weight, body condition and behaviour to make necessary adjustments to their diet.
If you want to talk to someone about your horses then please give us a call on 9651 1312 or drop in to our Moora or Yerecoin store. We are an independent local, family-owned Western Australian rural store and we love helping our customers.