Horse Boarding Feed

Listed below are different types of feed that some horse owners may consider feeding.

Beet Pulp Pellets

Beet pulp is a popular addition to many horse diets. Its a good source of carbohydrates and can be fed wet or dry. Many owners like to feed it wet, especially in the winter time, to get a bit of extra moisture in their horses. It's a good feed for horses that are underweight or working very hard. Molasses is usually added to pelleted beet pulp as a binder and palatability. Shredded beet pulp is also available.

Cracked Corn

Corn is a good source of carbs for your horse. It is reputed to be a 'hot food' but this is not so. It is often found in pelleted feeds. Corn kernels are hard. So for a horse with dental problems cracked corn such as this may be easier to chew. Corn is often mixed with other grains such as oats or barley.

Large Pelleted Concentrate

This pelleted concentrate is intended for mature horses. Most pellets are a mixture of grains such as oats or barley, corn, vitamin and mineral supplements with molasses often used as a binder and to make it taste good.

Sweet Feed Mix

This is a custom sweet feed mix. The owner, who has a large number of horses specifies what they want included. The feed is delivered either by the bag or with a bulk truck that fills a large bin. This particular feed has oats, corn, molasses and a mineral supplement. Many feed companies make their own sweet feeds for owners who may only need small quantities. One precaution with sweet feed in hot humid weather: if the molasses content is high, and the feed sits for a long time, it can begin to ferment or mold.

Whole Oats

Whole oats has been standard horse feed for decades. Oats can also be bought crimped, crushed, rolled, steamed or triple cleaned. Cleaning removes all dust and weed seeds. Some people feel if the oats is bruised by crimping or rolling it will be more digestible. Often owners will see what looks whole oats in the manure and assume that the horse can't digest the outer shell and the oats have gone straight through. But if you inspect the manure a little closer, you'll see that nothing is left of the inside of the oat and only the hulls are passing through whole. Also, there is a chance that crimping, rolling ect... allows the grain to deteriorate faster and lose nutritional value.

Hay Cubes

These cubes are highly compressed timothy hay. The hay is dried, chopped and compressed, then sold by the bag. Some people replace a portion of their horse's hay with hay cubes and they are useful if your horse can't tolerate even a small amount of hay dust. These cubes are very hard, and while a horse's jaw is very strong, there is a chance of choke. Soaking and breaking up the cubes is one way to avoid this problem.

Feed Pellets

This feed has been formed into nice little pellets especially for foals, although the size of the pellets would be fine for mature horses too. Pellets are usually a mixture of grains, corn, supplements. The grains are often steamed so they are more digestible. Molasses is often added as a binder and to make the feed taste good.