Feeding

[Does’ Leap]

Just wondering what folks were feeding their drafts and how that might change with the frequency and difficulty of the work their doing. We’re feeding a high fat low soluble carbohydrate diet advocated by Dr. Beth Valentine in her book Draft Horse Handbook. Instead of grain, she advocates alfalfa pellets soaked in oil. We are skipping the alfalfa and feeding the oil with the hay chaff left from our goats. This is the highly nutritious shattered leaf matter that the goats refuse to eat. The horses love it and seem to be doing well. We are only bringing our horses out on a couple hour logging stint every other day or so – no to arduous. Interested to hear from others.

George

[Plowboy]

We have 8 draft horses and feed about 8 bales of good grass meadow hay. Each mature horse gets 1/2 scoop of horse pellets in winter or sweet feed in summer when they come into their stall. We have a 2 yr old that gets a whole scoop and a 10 month old that gets 1 1/2 scoops to help reach their potential. During long days of hard work such as plowing a few oats give a lot of energy but should only be fed during or leading up to strenuous work. In winter we feed a 5 gallon bucket of ear corn scattered around in the pasture once a day to the whole herd. The ear corn is good for their teeth and keeps them fat during the winter months so they are in good shape for spring work. Too much corn causes founder so it should be fed sparingly. I think our feeding program is pretty traditional for this area. Many people feed no grain but it helps during heavy work with energy and condition. A hard working horse that is not fed to match his work load will start losing weight.

[Does’ Leap]

Plowboy, is that your corn you’re feeding? I forgot to mention that each horse also gets approximately 1 bale of first cut grass hay daily.

George

[Plowboy]

Yes it is what was left standing after we decided it was too late to keep refilling the silo. When it gets dry enough we pick it for winter feed. A 5 gallon pail of ear corn doesn’t yield much if you were to shell it. The horses are pretty methodical about removing it from the cob and keeps them busy during their mid day hay feeding. We feed outside twice a day and once inside. They clean it up better than just dumping a whole bunch and letting them pick through it.

[J-L]

My teams live on grass hay raised on the ranch. When they’re working harder they get a half gallon of oats. They are worked all winter from Nov. to mid May feeding cattle on that ration and do just fine. They all are in their prime age wise and have good teeth, so no special needs in that regard. In the summer when I work them they are just on pasture.

[john plowden]

again tonight this is Mrs. J.P. – I should really join myself
We feed hay of course- with a scoop of crimped oats with some alfalfa cubes soaked with flax seeds and a handful of kelp once a day- thats it
when they are working the oats are usually doubled with a second feeding
The hay is divided between a.m. and p.m.
I have heard that whole sunflower seeds are also a good way to supply oil besides whole flax seeds. I need to look into that more myself but have fed a few- our horses ate the whole sunflower heads growing in their pasture just before I was going to pick them so clearly it’s o.k. to eat
In summer with green grass we will fore go the alfalfa
C.P.

[Kristin]

We feed about a bale a day per horse of grass hay plus a few pounds of oats when they are working hard. We adjust the amount of oats depending on how their body condition is and how much energy they have. We have one older horse that is hard to keep weight on and he does better with pellets. Is the high fat/low carb diet you refer to, George, related to EPSM?
-Kristin

[Does’ Leap]

Kristin:

Must have missed this question back in January, sorry. Yes, this diet is considered a treatment for EPSM, but some argue that there are benefits to all horses.

George

[john plowden]

Our mare was showing signs of epsm and that was why we looked into feeding changes. Starting with eliminating all the molasses and corn and adding oil. I used sunflower oil which is expensive then started to use flax seeds which soaked with the alfalfa cubes soften up. Both of our horses seemed healthier and happier with these subtle changes. I would like to read a little more about sunflower seeds- apparently even the shell can be good for them. The kelp seems to really make them happy and they will lick it out of your hand.

[Anonymous]

I have been challenged this past winter to keep weight on my horses. We don’t do much work in the winters and usually feed only hay, no grain. My horses went into this winter looking great, in good condition. I purchased a new team in December which also looked great upon arrival. Shortly after snow set in and we were no longer grazing, around 1st of January, all the horses started losing condition.
At first I suspected the hay, it was our own crop, our first ever and I thought I must have done something wrong that yielded a nutritionally poor hay. Though I never had it tested, I thought otherwise when we ran out and purchased baled hay. Ours was vibrantly green in comparison.
I suspected parasites too. I have been doing my own fecal studies and after taking one found zero load on the new mares, and a light to moderate load on the Belgians. I wormed them with Exodus paste, just to make sure that wasn’t the problem. However, they didn’t look any better in the weeks to follow. I began feeding oats, but quickly felt that they had way too much energy for the little work they were doing. I tried to cut back on the oats and add weight with “Cool Cal 100” a fat supplement recommended by the feed store.
Still no improvement. I took another fecal study with zero to very low level of parasites showing. (Both samples were taken around the full moon when worms are thought to shed more eggs, though it is also thought that worms may not shed any eggs until the season progresses enough for the environmental conditions to favor hatching, so fecal studies may not be that accurate in winter(?)) This time I took another sample to the vet and we did the exam together just to make sure I wasn’t messing up the procedure. I wasn’t, her readings were the same, only her standards are very high. She recommends worming at the sight of an egg. I don’t agree, but having no better ideas, I wormed again, only 6 weeks later. This time all the horses.
Now, a month later still, there may be some slight improvement. We gave up on the Cool Cal 100 and began feeding about half corn, half oats upon the recommendation of a friend, to add condition without the hyper energy that oats seem to give.
However, I am still not satisfied and am slightly shocked at how much grain we’ve been feeding with little result. I am hesitant to use an extruded feed as I am hoping to use primarily farm-raised grains to fuel the herd and not rely on the feed company.
Teeth are the other area that comes to mind, and though I haven’t had them checked in a couple years, they are not old horses. The mares are 3 and 5, the Belgians are 11 and 15 years old.
I am wondering if there are any diseases that might affect condition but not health otherwise? What is epsm that is referred to in the later messages on this thread? Does anyone have any ideas as to what might be keeping me from putting weight on these horses? Any suggestions?
Thanks much to any one who can help.

David

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