Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
bills for you. Routinely check all feeders for sharp edges, broken parts, loose wires
or nails, and any other hazard.
• Do not feed horses on the ground where they might ingest sand or decomposed gran-
ite along with their feed. This can cause sand colic, a dangerous type of impaction.
Feeding on clean concrete pads, rubber mats, or snow-covered pastures can be help-
ful in preventing sand colic.
• To take the edge off an overeager horse's appetite, consider feeding hay first and fol-
lowing it 10 to 20 minutes later with grain. Horses that gulp or bolt their grain can
suffer choke, colic, or poor feed utilization. To encourage a horse to eat his grain
more slowly, mix large hay wafers, cubes, or “cakes” in with his grain ration or
leave several baseball-sized smooth rocks in his grain feeder. A large, shallow grain
feeder will cause a horse to eat more slowly than will a narrow, deep grain feeder
such as a bucket, which invites gulping.
• Balance your horse's ration by providing free-choice trace mineralized salt. This
contains sodium, chloride, and usually iodine, zinc, iron, manganese, copper, and
cobalt.
• Depending on the horse's age and type of feed, determine whether calcium and phos-
phorus need to be supplemented and in what ratio. If calcium is deficient, limestone
can be added to the grain. If phosphorus is low, monosodium phosphate can be ad-
ded. If both calcium and phosphorus are low, dicalcium phosphate can be used.
Water
Horses require between 4 and 20 gallons of drinking water a day. Water should always be
available, clean, and of good quality. (See
chapter 14
,
Water, for more information on water
quality.) A horse's water intake will increase with environmental heat, exertion, lactation,
increased hay ingestion, some illnesses, and increased salt intake. Horses drink less water
in extremely cold weather and during some illnesses.
If a horse doesn't get the water he needs on a regular basis, he could suffer impaction
colic, in which the contents of his intestines aren't moist enough to move properly through
his digestive system. To determine if a horse is dehydrated, perform the pinch test. Pick up
a fold of skin on the horse's neck between your thumb and index finger. Release the skin. It
should return to its normal, flat position in 1 second. If a ridge remains, the horse is slightly
dehydrated. If the skin remains peaked, called a “standing tent,” the horse is dehydrated
and could require immediate veterinary attention.
