Garth and I recently attended a feed seminar hosted by the Family Farm Feed Store in Spencer, New York, where the speaker was Heather Jaquay, Equine Consultant for Nutrena Feeds.

Heather recommended grass pasture and grass hay for mature horses, and a legume/grass mix for growing horses. She also recommended 80/20 forage/grain ratio for pleasure horses — performance horses and young horses need less forage and more grain.

If you change your horse’s feed, do so gradually over a period 7 to 10 days to give his hind gut time to develop the proper bio-bugs to digest the new feed. Use this rule of thumb when changing over from grass to hay and back, as well as any grain changes. Heather also stressed that you should give your horse the same amount of feed at the same time, every day. If you have more than one horse, stick with the same feeding order.

Water is the most important nutrient we provide for our horses. Horses need fresh, clean water that’s not too warm and not too cold. Water should be available at all times. Lack of water is the number-one cause of colic. When you’re traveling with your horse, providing access to good, clean water can sometimes be a problem. We always carry a five-gallon jug of water for our horses. You never know when you might be stuck in traffic or break down, stuck away from a water source for hours.

I even carry water when I’m going on a day ride; that way, I know Kit will have a chance to drink before we hit the trail and after the ride. If he doesn’t drink all the water, I use it to wipe him down after the ride.

Sometimes the water in camp doesn’t taste “right” to your horse, so he’ll refuse to drink it. If you think your horse might have this problem, trick him by putting flavored Kool-Aid in his water at home, then take the Kool-Aid along when you travel with your horse. The flavor will mask the water’s unfamiliar taste, which will encourage your horse to drink it.

Our good friend and veterinarian Dan Moore, known as “The Natural Vet,” feels that minerals — especially mineral salt — are very important in your horse’s diet. Most horses are deficient in salt and minerals, even if you’re giving him a “complete” feed, and provide him with a mineral or salt block.

In Dr. Moore’s opinion, mineral imbalance is the direct or indirect cause of every disease. Salt and mineral blocks aren’t your horse’s friend, he notes. Your horse can’t lick the blocks fast enough to get what he needs. And when he’s desperate for minerals, he’ll chew not only the block, but also trees, fencing, and his stall.

To make matters worse, a horse’s mineral/salt needs change with the weather, along with the changes in the mineral content of his pasture grass. Failing to meet these needs can be deadly! Has your horse ever colicked after a frost? During a frost, sodium, calcium, and magnesium decrease, while potassium increases. This spike in potassium is what can be fatal to your horse.

Salt and minerals blocks just cannot provide minerals fast enough for such a rapid change in weather. Free-choice loose minerals are a must. In the past few weeks as the temperature has dropped, I’ve noticed that we’re now feeding more hay, and our horses are cleaning up the loose minerals in their feeder a lot more often than they did in the summer.

However, keep in mind that in the summer, your horse sweats every time you ride. When he sweats, he loses minerals and needs to replace them. (For more information, visit www.thenaturalhorsevet.net.)