Question

I own a 12-year-old Friesian gelding that weighs 1,400 lb (635 kg). In the daytime, he’s on pasture that is supplemented with good-quality orchard grass hay during drought or winter. He is fed two cups of a low-starch feed twice a day. The only supplement he receives is a daily vitamin/mineral. He has no health issues and is in good weight for his breed and stature. Would you recommend a different feed for him?

Answer

Your horse’s diet is a reasonable option for him. The vitamin/mineral supplement is recommended because you are feeding less of the low-starch feed than recommended by the manufacturer; the recommended quantity is 6 lb per day. Because you are feeding less, the horse is not getting the right amount of nutrients that are added to a commercial feed to balance the forage.

Your other option would to be to feed a ration balancer such as All-Phase from KER Sport Horse Nutrition. For a horse this size, two cups twice per day is the correct amount to feed to supply all the nutrients required without having to feed the supplement.