06/13/2026
What’s the key to good nutrition and a healthy horse?
The first thing most may think is…grain! Right?
Wrong!
The first key ingredient to horse nutrition is a healthy gut to digest the nutrients. Without a healthy gut, where will the nutrition go? Ensuring your horse is properly dewormed with alternating products and conducting f***l tests is a key value. Worms come in many forms and after years of inhabitance, they may bury deep into your horse’s intestinal lining making it hard to remove all of the larvae with just a spring and fall deworming round with one product.
Secondly, ulcers! A common misconception is that OTTB’s are the only ones prone to ulcers. Each horse breed can develop ulcers from any discipline, poor forage, and stress. It is very important to ensure when treating for ulcers that a full round of treatment is conducted. When keeping your horse in a high demand training program, you should ensure you have preventative ulcer maintenance throughout the year.
Lastly, forage. I cannot stress enough that good pasture and hay are your friend. Grain *only* fills the gaps. Making sure to invest the bulk of money into a rich hay is very important. At my farm, we feed an 80% alfalfa - 20% orchard mix. Alfalfa does not make horses hot, and it helps with protein intake!
