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Today horse owners have numerous options available to provide their horses with a nutritious diet. Just walk into any feed store and you will be met with shelves of different grain options to complete any horse's diet. However, horses evolved over billions of years to eat grass making it the most important aspect of their daily feedings. In a world where consumers have free choice of whatever targeted concentrate diet they could dream of, forage (grass, hay, haylage, etc.) remains the cornerstone of the equine diet.
Especially today, where horses are often fed small hay meals throughout the day, it is important that horse owners get back in touch with the diet horses were designed for.
Horses are Natural Grazers
Horses evolved to spend hours each day eating grass. When left to their own devices with free access to forage horses will spend upwards of 12-14 hours a day eating. That is a significant portion of the day!
Because of their evolutionary hardwiring, horses are healthier and happier when they can experience natural grazing behaviors. Below are the numerous benefits of providing your horse with a diet that syncs with their biology.
The Importance of Free Choice Hay
A horse's mental, emotional, and physical health relies on 24/7 access to forage. Except for a few medical conditions that make free access forage unhealthy, nearly all horses will benefit from 24/7 forage and living a lifestyle more in sync with their evolution.
Reduce Stress
Because horses are designed to have forage whenever they want it, their minds and bodies expect to have free access to it. When they are fed incrementally and go without for hours a day they are more likely to feel stressed. That's because their mind and body are telling them to worry about where their next meal will come from.
When living in sync with their biology, horses do not have to worry about hunting for food, it is usually readily available. Their stomachs, designed to always have food passing through, constantly produce acid that, unless buffered by a steady stream of forage, will irritate their stomach lining.
Therefore, any food scarcity (even if just left without for several hours) will cause mental stress as they look for their next meal and physical distress as their painful stomach acids build.
Maintain Gut Health
As previously mentioned, horses have a complex digestive system that is a sensitive ecosystem relying on a delicate balance to stay healthy. Comprised of a relatively small stomach and an expansive hindgut, the equine digestive system is uniquely suited for breaking down a substantial amount of forage.
Horses fed mainly concentrated grains and hay in small quantities will not have enough fiber fermenting in their large hindgut. Providing a steady supply of forage will ensure there is always something in their digestive tract, helping to prevent digestive disorders and colic.
Weight Management
Believe it or not, limiting forage to your overweight horse may not help them lose weight. That's because the stress associated with withholding food will increase their cortisol levels, making it harder for them to lose weight. Additionally, horses fed limited hay are more likely to gorge themselves when food is available.
On the flip side, submissive horses fed in a group setting may get pushed off of the food, making it harder for them to get a bite before it is all gone. Supplying a continual flow of forage will ensure overweight horses don't feel stress spurred by scarcity and under weight horses have enough food available to gain weight.
Prevent Ulcers
Ulcers are a painful condition affecting an estimated 30% of adult horses, 60% of show horses, and 90% of racehorses. While some horses have ulcers and do not show symptoms, other's performance and behavior suffer from the condition. Limited access to forage and intermittent feedings are a common cause of ulcers as a horse's stomach acid continually builds without food to buffer it.
Free access to forage increases the amount of time horses have food in their stomach. Plus, the increased time spent chewing tough grass stems increases salivation which further neutralizes stomach acid.
Mental Stimulation
Horses that crib, weave, or chew everything they can get their mouth on are often bored and screaming for help. Simply providing free access to forage will greatly reduce a horse's bordem-induced destructive behaviors.
Grazing encourages a horse to explore its environment and provides it with an abundance of sensory information. Even for horses that don't have access to pasture, free-feeding hay gives them the chance to eat more in line with their biology and provides the mental stimulation their minds and bodies crave, reducing instances of stereotypes.
Temperature Regulation
When harsh winter weather sets in we want to make sure our horses are warm. For many, that means piling on the blankets, rugs, and sheets, however, the best way to keep your horse warm is to provide 24/7 hay. Fermentation in their expansive hindgut produces heat and is one of the main ways horses stay warm in the winter. Therefore keeping it full of forage will help ensure your horse can produce enough energy to stay warm.
Keeping warm in cold temperatures takes calories! Your horse's energy requirements can increase by 2.5% for every degree below 5ºF. Providing free access to forage in the winter allows your horse to consume all the feed they need to stay warm so you do not have to worry as much about the cold.
Feeding Free Access Forage
Feeding free access forage provides your horse with the mental stimulation and dietary requirements they need to live a happy, healthy life. Now that you know the importance of free choice hay and providing a natural diet to your horse, you may wonder how to transition your horse to free access forage.
Read How to Provide 24/7 Access to Forage and learn more about what options you have to regulate your horse's intake and ease through the transition.