Feeding Management at Boarding Stables

Nutrition and feed management can have a major impact on your horse’s health and performance. While boarding your horse at a stable might simplify your role as a horse owner, it’s still up to you to ensure your horses are properly nourished.

Because they must manage numerous horses, many boarding stables feed a single concentrate which meets the needs of the majority of horses on the farm. When fed as directed to the class(es) of horse for which they are intended, most commercially produced, fortified concentrates should meet the nutrient needs of physiologically normal horses. As a diligent horse owner, it is up to you to take stock of that feed and make sure the feed used is appropriate for your horse’s situation and that it will provide adequately for the nutritional needs of your horse at the rate at which it will be fed.

If your horse has significantly different nutritional and feeding management requirements than the others on the farm, then the stable owner might be amenable to purchasing the feed most suitable for your horse. Alternatively, you may ask about the possibility of supplying your own feed. If a suitable feed is not available for your horse, nutritional shortfalls may be overcome through use of a supplemental source of nutrients.

Also check to see how grain is stored. Grain should be kept in containers that are impenetrable by insects and rodents. Galvanized steel garbage cans or secondhand freezers are good choices. Grain that is stored in flimsy or insubstantial containers or left in bags may become contaminated with dead insects and waste material from rodents and other nuisance animals (such as raccoons and opossums, which can transmit disease to horses).

Regardless of the nutritional needs of your horse, it is also important for you to work closely with the barn manager to work out a suitable program for your horse that they will be able to provide with as little disruption to the barn’s existing routine as possible. Remember, often the key to success is to keep it simple.

Read more:

• Horse Diets: Find the Right Boarding Facility
• Horse Feed Management and EPM Prevention