Is your horse too skinny and would you like to let it gain weight? Then you have a huge choice in foods that all indicate that they are incredibly healthy and that your horse can gain weight well. But are these foods really healthy for your horse? And which one can you choose best for your horse? Read in this article which foods you can best choose. Can't quite figure it out? Ask our specialists for free advice.
Horses naturally shed in winter
In nature, a horse is normally an animal that loses weight in winter. He thereby breaks down the fat tissue where waste products are stored. This is a natural process of the metabolism in horses. In nature, periods of a lot of food are always followed by periods of little food (winter). What you see is that only they are left with fiber. Hence, horses have a greater need for fiber in winter. However, we as horse lovers give horses extra food in the winter when we suddenly see our horses lose weight. This is absolutely not necessary for healthy horses. Horse owners who want to imitate nature as much as possible do not feed extra concentrate in wintertime. They do, however, ensure that there is sufficient quality roughage. But the pitfall is that we horse owners are actually going to feed extra concentrate in the winter, so that horses go too fat into the spring. In the spring there are much more sugars in the grass which can be disastrous for the intestinal bacteria composition and the immune system. Slimming in the winter prepares them for this and ensures that they go well into the spring. So only feed if your horse is way too skinny. And take into account the following do's and don'ts:Don’ts:
- Haylage/Silage
- Cereal products
- Beet pulp
- Large amounts of concentrate
- Prickly grass mixes (e.g. alfalfa)
Do’s:
- Have the horse's teeth checked before the winter
- Unpacked hay
- Sufficient vitamins and minerals by means of balancer
- Grain-free feed materials and low in sugar
- Small portions
- Fat as a food source
- Healthy mashes and not too long soaking