Equine Nutrition: Best practices for changing your horse’s feed safely

Follow these best practices from our equine nutritionists when changing your horse’s feeds to help ensure a smooth dietary transition and optimal horse and gut health.

1. Make Changes Gradually

Any dietary adjustment should be made slowly over 7–14 days to prevent digestive upset. It takes the microbial population within the gut at least a week to adapt to utilise different feeds. This applies to changes in forage, as well as hard feed/concentrate changes. If possible, introduce horses to green grass paddocks gradually, beginning with less than an hour once or twice a day and slowly increase.

Sudden changes in feed or forage can disrupt the gut microbiome and lead to colic or diarrhea. Horses with gut sensitivities who scour or develop fecal water syndrome with significant changes in pasture, can benefit from supplementation with probiotic live yeast (especially Saccharomyces boulardii and cerevisiae) and hindgut buffers and to help maintain a more stable hind gut pH.

For general gut health we recommend 30 grams per day of Farmalogic Rejuvenate which contains prebiotics with protected live yeast probiotics. Increase to 60 grams per day if your horse scours, when going out in the float or other times of stress such as competitions and separation anxiety. Another option for competition days is to give Farmalogic B-Good instead of Rejuvenate on those ‘big’ days.

2. Monitor Body Condition Regularly

Seasonal changes in pasture quality and availability can cause fluctuations in body fat. Use a body condition scoring system to track weight and adjust feed as necessary. Small, frequent changes are better than fewer, large dietary adjustments.

3. Balance Nutrients Properly

Ensure that horses receive a well-balanced diet with appropriate levels of:

• Fibre (the primary energy source) from forage
• Proteins (for muscle maintenance and repair) from leafy forage and legume grains or forage
• Fats (for omega-3 balance and to add energy without excess carbohydrates)
• Vitamins and minerals (essential for immune function, hoof health, and overall well-being) – you can’t go past Equine Vit&Min for this job!
• Electrolytes – Don’t forget salt in winter – horses still need at least 7g of salt per 100kg bodyweight in cold weather, and it encourages them to keep drinking when it is cool.

4. Work with Equine Nutrition Experts

Consulting an equine nutritionist or a veterinarian with a special interest in nutrition can help fine-tune feeding plans based on individual horse needs, workload, and metabolic conditions. This can ultimately save on costs through a reduction in unnecessary supplements, improved ‘fuel efficiency’ and better immune function.

For a detailed analysis of your horse’s ration, we offer an expert diet analysis service for $29.95 which comes with $30 worth of vouchers to use on the Farmalogic online store. You can access this service here.