Simple Grain Free Diet for Horses
Exact recipe as shown below, with the addition MadBarn Visceral Pellets
One of the best things you can do for your horses is offer slow fed grass hay as often as possible. Many owners choose to offer as close to 24/7 access by utilizing slow feeders and hay nets correctly.
Prioritizing quality hay over fresh pasture grass is widely recommended, especially for horses at risk of developing laminitis, founder, metabolic syndrome (EMS), Cushings (PPID), PSSM, and other syndromes or diseases.
To supplement the horse with the basic nutrients that hay and grass are lacking, this is a widely recommended recipe that can be adapted for your horses needs fairly easily.
Feed this meal twice a day to ensure optimal absorption of nutrients and to meet the daily requirements.
INGREDIENTS:
Anywhere from 1/2qt, 1qt, 2qt of Timothy Pellets (or cubes) SOAKED*
1 Serving of Vermont Blend, California Trace, AminoTrace+, KIS Trace or similar
1 Tablespoon of Salt (iodized or unrefined sea salt)
1/3 - 1/2 Cup of Ground Stabilized Flax or Chia Seeds
1 Pump of Emcelle Vitamin E (2000 IU’s) or similar source of Natural Vitamin E
Levels of each can be adjusted according to your horses size and weight, lifestyle, exercise regimen, and any other needs.
If your horse is struggling with persistent hoof issues such as cracks, chips, flares, thrush, thin soles, white line separation, fungus, and even laminitis - it may be worth testing your hay for a nutrient analysis to determine iron & other levels to see if your copper and zinc levels are being met with the forage balancer alone. If not, consider increasing the amount of copper and zinc that your horse is receiving daily.
*Please, please, please, SOAK your hay pellets and cubes if you are feeding more than 1 cups worth. Not only do they swell up once wet, but if they haven’t received that moisture prior to entering the digestive tract, they will pull that moisture from the digestive tract - dehydrating the digestive system like this increases risk of impaction colic and more! Feeding large quantities of unsoaked hay pellets or cubes also increase risk of choke. The general recommendation is to use a 2:1 ratio and use double the amount of water to pellets. If you let this sit and soak, you will see that you can add even more water before making a soup! I typically use more like a 3:1 ratio for soaking my pellets, if feeding more than 1 qt at a time.
It might not look very pretty but soaked hay pellets are the best base for a grain free and forage based diet! Horses typically love diving into a bowl of timothy pellets mixed with a few special ingredients.
