Why do we feed grain and not a hay-only diet?

[mydogs]

Excluding the need to provide horses with vitamins/minerals that they may not be getting in the grass and hay, why aren’t more horses on a hay-only diet or a mostly-hay diet?

When horses need to gain weight, why do people increase the grain amount instead of providing better quality hay or more hay?

ETA:
For those that have horses that need the grain for energy/weight, assuming you had access to high quality hay & your horse ate all/most of the hay provided, how would your horse react to being provided more alfalfa hay or pellets?

[BoyleHeightsKid]

I guess some of it might be their access to quality hay, but I think most of the time it’s from ignorance.

In my area the mentality is to feed everything sweet feed. It’s starting to change, but slowly.

[CFFarm]

My horse gets no grain. He gets a mineral supplement, hay and pasture. My pony gets senior grain, calf manna and soaked beet pulp (she tries on pasture but just kinda quids) because of old horse dental problems.

If a horse doesn’t have ideal turn out available, is a hard keeper or in heavy work some grain may be necessary but IMHO most horses now-a-days are over fed and under worked in general. At boarding barns it’s easier to just put more in the bucket than storing more hay and maintaining pastures.

Every horse is an individual and one has to do what works.

[Simkie]

When you’re feeding the best hay available, and your horses are eating it free choice, and still need weight (or protein, for muscle) how do you propose you address the shortfall?

[BoyleHeightsKid]

@Simkie

When you’re feeding the best hay available, and your horses are eating it free choice, and still need weight (or protein, for muscle) how do you propose you address the shortfall?

and yes… this. When they are eating as much as they can eat of a good quality hay, then yes you need to add a concentrate or increase it.

[tinah]

My tb’s are on pasture with hay available 24/7. Without concentrates, hip bones would be sticking out.

[StormyDay]

I have a TB who eats exactly 10 pounds of hay a day. It doesn’t matter if I have him 20 pounds of hay, or how I hang it/don’t hang it, or if he also went out and grazed that day or not, he eats exactly 10 pounds.

Its just how he is. He doesn’t love hay. But 10 pounds of hay is not enough calories for a TB. Therefore he gets quite a bit of grain too. Over time horse breeds have been bred for their athletic traits over other traits, like being good keepers, strong feet, etc. We have to learn to accommodate for that. So we feed grain.

[mmeqcenter]

@mydogs

Excluding the need to provide horses with vitamins/minerals that they may not be getting in the grass and hay, why aren’t more horses on a hay-only diet or a mostly-hay diet?

Because we’ve domesticated horses and use them for physical work, and many of them need additional calories from protein and fat to maintain weight that forage alone just cannot provide. All horses should be a on mostly-hay diet, but many horses simply need grain/other feed, plain and simple.

@mydogs

When horses need to gain weight, why do people increase the grain amount instead of providing better quality hay or more hay?

Ignorance/lack of knowledge most commonly. Or, as another indicated, because the horse is already getting free-choice hay, so what else are you supposed to add/increase? Or, lack of access to better hay.

[trubandloki]

I will start by saying that my horses have a diet of pretty much hay and grass. The amount of ‘grain’ (alfalfa pellets) is almost none and there to carry their supplements/meds.

It is pretty common at boarding barns to feed more grain and less hay. My opinion on why this happens is because it makes things much easier for them in the long run. Grain products are readily available at all times of the year, easy to store and easy to give and even with a fussy horse do not add a ton of mess to the clean up (pellets tossed out of the feed tub are not a huge deal, wasted hay is a pain).
I also noticed, when doing stalls at a boarding barn recently, that less hay and more grain = less manure volume which means less work cleaning stalls, less money spent on bedding and less manure pile issues.

[GoodTimes]

Both of my horses would have been bone racks from 3 years of age until they were 6-7 years old if it weren’t for grain, especially in the winter when there’s no grass. Both were out 14+ hours per day, hay 24/7, lots of grass in the summer (10 acre field), but were growing and in work. Young warmbloods expend a lot more energy doing nothing then you’re average 15hh stock horse.

Now that they’re 8 and 14 they barely need anything, they both just get RB now. I don’t imagine they’ll really need grain again until they’re seniors and have trouble keeping weight on.

RB are much more popular around here then “grain” or complete feeds. It’s been years since I’ve been in a barn that fed sweet feed.

[tabula_rashah]

Because life doesn’t always work in a neat little package like that. In my area, it is fairly normal for horses to have 24/7 access to forage- pasture is plentiful and hay is inexpensive compared to many areas of the country. All of my horses have (depending on time of year) pasture and/ or hay at all times. But they are individuals- out of my 5, 3 are easy keepers and get 4oz of Ultium and small handful of BEEP to mix their supplements in once daily. My ancient Lusitano mare is still ribby despite all her access to forage, extra super quality alfalfa and as much soaked senior feed, BEEP and flax as I can feed her. She has always been a very hard keeper but now as she’s pushing 30 (and vet and I suspect possible tumors) it’s really hard to keep weight on her. My 5th horse- a young Morgan gelding, doesn’t understand that Morgans are supposed to be air ferns and he requires about 5 lbs of Ultium per day with the forage to keep him at the right weight. I wish I had his metabolism! OP- how exactly do you think I should add more forage to my two hard keepers?

[tazycat]

Pasture for my 1 who’s working 5 to 6 days and an equilix tub he’s fatter then i like,so no feed for him. Other horse gets TC senior once a day 6 lbs,his ribs are showing he’s real thin. Winter time hay only diets with an equilix tub no feed. Only feed if horse is thin, otherwise nothing but a forage based diet even when in work.

[Guilherme]

We feed a horse to match the work they are doing.

If you have a pasture puff who just stands around all day then it’s unlikely they need a grain supplement. If they are in work up for 100 mile endurance race or a real three day event or other energy demanding activities then a grain supplement will likely be needed.

Put another way, we follow the Golden Rule of Equine Husbandry; You give the horse what it needs when it needs it, and in appropriate quality and quantity.

G.

[Pennywell_Bay]

As per the title of your thread, “WE” don’t. Some horses or ponies will not be able to get the nutritional requirements and calories going in from a hay/pasture only diet even in unlimited quantities. People did a good job of listing why: limited quality of hay, self limiting horse intake of hay, etc. Forage is ideal, but we don’t live in perfectly ideal circumstances therefore adapt in the best interest of the animal, in this case supplementing forage with a feedstuff - which is perfectly OK.

[Texarkana]

@mmeqcenter

Because we’ve domesticated horses and use them for physical work, and many of them need additional calories from protein and fat to maintain weight that forage alone just cannot provide. All horses should be a on mostly-hay diet, but many horses simply need grain/other feed, plain and simple.

This. :yes:

Ignorance/lack of knowledge most commonly. Or, as another indicated, because the horse is already getting free-choice hay, so what else are you supposed to add/increase? Or, lack of access to better hay.

And this.

We’ve also bred additional caloric demands into some horses, i.e. thoroughbreds, who through selective breeding, carry a higher percentage of lean muscle than their ancestors.

Forage should always be first. But in domestication, there are times forage alone cannot meet the demands we have placed on our animals.

In today’s society, it has unfortunately become easier to rely on a prepackaged product. That’s not a trend unique to horse keeping.

[mydogs]

This has been interesting to read. I’ve been trying to learn more about equine nutrition, but that in itself has been overwhelming to read up on.

For those that have horses that need the grain for energy/weight, assuming you had access to high quality hay & your horse ate all/most of the hay provided, how would your horse react to being provided more alfalfa hay or pellets?
i am adding this to the first post as well

BTW - I’m not here to judge anyone, I like hearing other people’s personal experiences as a way to learn more. It is easier for me to comprehend experiences instead of textbook logic.

[mydogs]

@tabula rashah

My 5th horse- a young Morgan gelding, doesn’t understand that Morgans are supposed to be air ferns and he requires about 5 lbs of Ultium per day with the forage to keep him at the right weight. I wish I had his metabolism! OP- how exactly do you think I should add more forage to my two hard keepers?

For your morgan, how would he personally react to being fed more alfalfa hay or pellets? Would that be too much for him to handle or make him too “hot” to handle? Just curious/wanting to learn, not judging or trying to provide advice.

[walktrot]

I have a 23 y.o. Paint gelding who was perfect on just hay until last year. He is pasture boarded, on round bales, and is the alpha so he eats as much as he wants. Teeth floated annually, and ridden 6 days a week. Last summer he lost some weight. I added the regular concentrate the BO has but it didn’t do much. So he went on a high fat, high fiber feed with plenty of protein, gained the weight back and looks terrific. I think a lot of people feed grain and really don’t need to. But there is a role for it depending on the individual horse.

[scrbear11]

I switched my hay provider over the winter. My prior hay guy started out growing beautiful grass mix hay, but it became increasingly weedy over the years. My new provider brought me an orchard grass and orchard alfalfa to try. My horses gained an incredible amount of weight without increasing hay rations or grain rations. And this was over the winter with limited grass.

I have a few big (grain) eaters still, but the majority eat a small amount to help supplement or a ration balancer for the really easy keepers. The little bit of grain provides protein and nutrients they may not be receiving from hay. And honestly, it provides a means of giving supplements.

[Texarkana]

@mydogs

For those that have horses that need the grain for energy/weight, assuming you had access to high quality hay & your horse ate all/most of the hay provided, how would your horse react to being provided more alfalfa hay or pellets?
i am adding this to the first post as well

It depends on the situation. But with some working horses, you do hit a point where forage alone does not offer the concentration of nutrients needed; whether those nutrients are amino acids, fats/calories, or vitamins/minerals. Adding more forage in the form of pellets will not change that fact.

Horses exceeding the nutritional demands of what forage supplies will be visibly deficient and unable to perform to the best of their ability. They might be lacking in condition or topline, have trouble with their energy levels, or their coat and hoof quality might suffer. In extreme situations, the horse may develop illness or injury. There is a slew of information published on common diseases caused by nutritional deficiency. Most of these diseases are archaic today with the advent of fortified feeds and greatly reduced equine workloads.