If you want happy, healthy horses, there are a few key things you need to think about. Most importantly, you need to look at what you are feeding them. The right diet is vital, so make sure you select good horse feed, forage, and treats. In addition, it’s crucial to look at how you provide food. There are pros and cons for various options, including feeding from the floor and using things like haylets, racks, or over-the-door buckets. We want to look at the first here to explore the advantages.

What nature intended

If you look at wild horses or animals allowed to graze paddocks freely, you’ll see they spend the majority of the day with their heads down eating grass. They will only rarely have heads up to eat.

Physiologically horses are better off eating with their heads down. Significantly, it means the mandible has more freedom of movement, making it easier to chew. In addition, it ensures the teeth align effectively. Together this can ensure teeth wear down evenly rather than developing hooks and ramps.

Health benefits

Horses bending down to eat actually provides a number of key health benefits. It allows longer chewing and ensures they generate more saliva. This is really important because it improves digestive health, reducing the risk of gastric ulcers. Plus, more effective chewing reduces the risk of choke. This is most important when you provide horse feed like hay. The positioning also ensures the trachea and oesophagus are open.

Having the head down is also great for breathing. It helps to keep the airways clear. Additionally, it prevents the horse from inhaling particles of food or dust when they are eating. This can reduce the chance of respiratory problems.

Finally, eating from the floor means horses have better alignment of their spine and allows key ligaments to do the work of supporting their weight. This can reduce muscle tension and other problems. It’s also better for the nervous system, allowing horses to relax.

Concerns

It isn’t all positives though; there are a couple of downsides to feeding horses from the floor. It’s important to consider them and the potential impacts on horse health. In the worst cases it could result in problems and wasted horse feed.

By far the biggest problem here is it makes it harder to control how quickly a horse eats. If you’re trying to control their diet for weight management, it can be trickier. You may need to think about feeding small portions often to slow the horse down.

If you feed horses on the ground in a stable or box, they could decide they want to use hay as bedding instead of eating it. This can reduce how much they eat and may result in weight loss. Worse, it means you could be wasting money.

Speak to us to order horse feed

JS Hubbuck Ltd has been working with horse owners for years. We provide a great selection of feeds for different situations. The best thing about working with us is we can advise about products and provide useful information. Then, if you place an order, we’ll do the best we can to get it to you as quickly as possible.

So, get in touch today and work with a friendly, family run business.