We are an agricultural business that works to provide a myriad of products to the community. Our team offers everything from clothing to horse feed. With a collection as diverse as ours, we have the means to satisfy all sorts of requirements. More importantly, we can offer advice about any item.

One of the most vital things to learn when you start working with horses is how to feed them. Making the wrong decisions can lead to a number of health complications. To help you, we are going to go over some of the things you need to avoid doing with horse feeding.

No low-quality hay

Firstly, don’t feed them low-quality hay. The majority of horses eat more hay compared to pasture. Thus, it is necessary to be vigilant about quality. It needs to be free of musty smells, mould, debris, and weeds. It doesn’t necessarily need to be bright green in colour, but it needs to smell fresh and be soft rather than stemmy.

One thing that is especially important here is to make sure there are no dead mammals in the hay and any other horse feed. That can lead to botulism. This is more likely to occur when you use round bales. Always vaccinate horses for botulism when feeding using them. Also, exclusively purchase only those ones that were stored under cover. Plus, remember that round bales for cattle are typically too poor in quality for horses.

As for mould, be picky about it. Reject the whole load if you inspect some bales and locate obvious brown or black spots. Do the same if you catch a musty scent. Mould particles can harm the airways of horses. The result can be respiratory disease that will damage their breathing.

Too much pasture isn’t good

Something else you cannot do is allow easy keepers to have too much pasture. Horses may be naturally grazing animals. However, farm pasture grasses are typically enhanced nutritionally to offer additional calories. The fructan, sugars, and starches here can result in crippling laminitis when eaten excessively.

Exercise

Ensure that you don’t forget the exercise as well. A fit horse will possess superior bone density and muscle, like a fit human. If there is a horse with minor arthritis, low-intensity movement can aid you in minimising pains and aches. It will make them feel better. If you have overweight horses, you will require an exercise program to shed those pounds and keep them healthy. You may also need to adapt the horse feed to help them trim down.

Avoid over-supplementing

Another massive don’t is over-supplementing. If you have been to a feed store before, you’ve likely seen the amount of equine oral supplies available. The variety can be overwhelming. You need to be careful when deciding what to choose and give to your animals.

Supplements are there to tackle particular health concerns, like respiratory or digestive health. Your vet could recommend using a joint supplement for arthritic horses. If they do, try it and see if you notice a difference after six weeks. If there are other problems you want to address with supplements, talk to an equine nutritionist or vet. They will help you to keep your horse’s diet balanced when you add supplements.

Water is essential

Last but not least, don’t forget the water. A surprising number of owners forget that water is the quintessential thing for horses. They are often sensitive to hot or dirty water. See to it that your horse always has sufficient clean water at a decent drinking temperature. When buckets are empty or troughs freeze, digestive contents might dry out in the horse’s gastrointestinal tract. The result would be impaction colic. This is a major veterinary emergency you can avoid easily with some diligence.

We provide stellar merchandise if you need horse feed and more

JS Hubbuck Ltd has been in this business for a long time. As a result, we know how important it is that customers receive great quality merchandise and a wonderful service. We work to provide both, giving people every reason to want to shop with us.

If you need horse feed in particular, we have some of the finest products on the market. So, if you want to buy some from us or need advice, feel free to get in touch.