How Much
Does a Horse Need to Eat? - February 2005
by:
Yvette Connely, Purina Mills
Did you know that the average 150 lb. human
needs approximately 1,500 to 2,000 calories per day and an average
1,000 lb. horse needs approximately 16,000 calories per day? So in
calculation, a horse still needs approximately the same amount of
calories per pound of body weight as we do. However, the big
difference between horse and human is in the digestive tract. A
horse has a cecum (carnivores do not) in which the microbes in the
cecum can break down the fiber in the vegetables/hay to Volatile
Fatty Acids and use them as an energy source. Dried hay has around
800-1,000 calories per pound, and fresh grass has around 400-500
calories per pound because of the higher water content in it. With
dried hay, your average horse needs around 1-2% of their body weight
in hay. If you take the middle amount, that would be 15 1bs. of
dried hay per day! (15 lbs. of Alfalfa per day = approx.15,000
calories). So, a horse can maintain his weight on this amount. For
fresh pasture, a horse has to eat about twice that amount (30 lbs.)
because of the higher water content. This is why a horse on pasture
grazes all day because they have to take in a higher volume of feed
to meet their calorie needs. In addition, horses on pasture will
walk around 5 to 10 miles per day because they have to search out
their food. So, they also burn more calories per day. Horses in
Arizona on dried hay only need about half of that plus, they don't
burn the extra calories because they can just stand in one place and
eat their whole meal. If we let them eat all day on the dried hay as
they would in pasture, they would intake more calories than they
need and would become overweight.
Herbs for
skin care and wound management - November 2004
The
information contained in this article was gathered from the Holistic
Horse Magazine.
Is your horse's coat losing its shine in the
winter cold and you're running out to buy skin products with
unrecognizable ingredients? Well its important to know that
what you put on your horse's skin can and usually will be absorbed
into the body so you need to be careful! We've listed some
herbs that are commonly used for skin care and wound management.
And remember, you can use these herbs on you and your horse!
Arnica:
Anti-inflammatory. Used for swelling, bruising, sprains,
cartilage stress and arthritis. Do not ingest arnica -- for
topical use only.
Aloe: Aloe
promotes healing of burned and in the desert those white ponies
probably need this on their more sensitive areas such as their
nose. Aloe's active ingredient, Aloin, which consists of
vitamins, minerals, enzymes and amino acids to help heal the skin.
Chickweed:
The most common use of Chickweed is for topical care
of cuts, wounds, and chronic itching caused by eczema and rashes.
You can also add Chickweed to poultices to aid in pulling toxins
from a wound.
Marigold:
This is one of the most popular and effective herbs for
treating skin problems. Also known as Calendula, it has been
used for hundreds of years in ointments, infusions and tinctures
to heal many skin problems including frostbite, burns, and boils.
It has a strong antibiotic and anti-fungal effect. This can
also be used to kill germs as a replacement for the harsher
chemical of bleach and will not burn the skin.
Water
Consumption - September 2004
Did
you know the total amount of water within a horse's body is
approximately 60% of their body weight? This means they
need to drink an average of 10 to 15 gallons of water during the
hot summer days in Arizona. This equals approximately 1-2
liters of water consumed per hour. Unfortunately, automatic
watering systems just don't provide this type of flow rate for
your horse to stay adequately hydrated. So be sure to
provide a large bucket of water along with your watering system
and your horse will stay hydrated and healthy!
