Do you think that feeding hay or oat is enough for your horses’ dietary demands?
Sadly, the answer is NO.
A diet of only forage or oats doesn’t offer optimal nutrition for their development.
That’s why you need to find the best horse feed to supply sources of minerals, vitamins, and protein.
And in our table below, we will give you a detailed look at the good products to help you take the right care of your horses.
Down here to know now!
Top 5 best horse feed 2023 on the Market
1. Manna Pro Senior Weight Accelerator – Best Senior Horse feed
If you are looking for the best horse feed for senior horses, Manna Pro Senior Weight Accelerator is what you need, guys.
This supplement has high calorie and fat levels for gaining weight as well as body condition. Since it’s formulated for senior horses, it also includes a variety of necessary vitamins and minerals to offer excellent benefits.
The Omega 3 acids from flaxseed are good for a healthy coat and skin. Relying on that, your horse’s coat will look better and won’t get any skin issues.
This product contains probiotics to give your four-legged friends proper digestion and biotin for their hoof development.
And depending on your equines’ demands, you can feed them by mixing them into the grain or top dressing at the rate of 2 to 10 ounces per horse every day.
Make sure you check the chance of loose stools within two weeks. If it happens, you need to decrease the amount.
Check more: TOp 7 best Senior horse feed on the Market
PROS
- Suitable for old horses in need of gaining weight
- Contains essential minerals, vitamins, and antioxidants
- Easy to feed
- Highly palatable
- Good value for your budget
CONS
- Some report that their horses don’t like the taste. But you can try to hide it in a strong-tasting feed.
2. Start to Finish Cool Calories 100 – Best Horse Feed for Performance Horses
With 100% dry vegetable fat, Cool Calories 100 from Manna Pro is suitable for all kinds of equine. This concentrated energy supplement also offers calories for underweight horses and their overall body condition.
Thanks to the appearance of fatty acids, your four-legged friends get a full and glossy coat for sure.
But what makes this product outstanding is that it’s high in fat for cool energy. And that makes it become the best for performance horses.
Simply mix the Cool Calories 100 into the grain portion at a rate of 2 to 4 ounces per horse daily. Or you can enhance the amount if you are feeding your underweight performance horses.
PROS
- Ideal for performance horses
- Also good for weight gain
- 100% fractionated vegetable fat, lessens metabolic issues
- Less messy than other liquids
- Highly palatable and digestible
CONS
- Your horses might get spunk
3. The Missing Link 10-Pound Equine Plus Formula.
Aside from offering the original equine superfood supplement, The Missing Link Equine Plus Formula is ideal for the best horse feed.
It includes healthy glucosamine, omega fatty acids, fiber, and Phytonutrients for aiding general health. This formula is also designed to supply the necessary nutrients often missing from grain or hay to improve joint health.
What’s more, this feed supports fat absorption in the tissues to enhance stamina levels.
Overall, The Missing Link includes the right ingredients to help your horses grow strong. But you might consider before buying in case your budget is limited.
PROS
- Good for overall condition
- Ideal for joint support as well
- Palatable
- Positive results in 30 days
CONS
- A bit pricey
- You have to refrigerate after opening
4. Manna Pro Calf-Manna Supplement – Best For All Age
If you need feed for all life stages at an affordable price, Manna Pro Calf-Manna Supplement is the best horse feed at this time.
Moreover, you are able to feed the mare from the start of her early development stage. It’s even okay to feed her right after birth by combining it with other feeds or milk.
Indeed, the Calf-Manna supplement is helpful for immune health and energy production.
It’s because this good feed includes high proteins, oats as a natural ingredient, and amino acids. It also contains digestive carbohydrates that help animals gain more energy.
Let’s read more details with this post about Calf Manna for Horse review!
PROS
- Excellent stuff for not only horses of all life stages but also other animals
- High-quality ingredients
- Highly palatable with different flavors
- Ideal as a pre-starter
- Long shelf life, 9 months
- Affordably priced
CONS
- Some claim that they have to mix Calf-Manna with other feeds to get the best result
5. Horse Guard Super Weight Gain Equine – Best for Weight Gain
With no sugars and starches, Horse Guard Super Weight Gain is extremely suitable for equines that are severely underweight.
This feed doesn’t only offer them the necessary amount of fat and fiber but also lots of minerals and vitamins. Bacterial and yeast inoculants also help to enhance their gut function and digestive system.
Plus, protein is required to develop their energy level while vitamin E and organic Selenium prevent them from getting stressed.
In case you have four-legged friends in such conditions, this kind of feed will offer everything they need to get back to health for sure. Since this product works quickly and effectively, you soon get the proper result.
PROS
- Works well for malnourished horses
- Comes as a powder, easy to mix with other feed
- Includes necessary minerals and vitamins
- Uses soybeans, won’t make your horse “hot”
- Highly palatable
- Quickly results
CONS
- Some report the different results between horses
- The old horses don’t like the taste
Selecting the best horse feed – Buying guide
Things to consider
Aside from introducing the good products above, we also mention some considerations when you are contemplating feeding your horses.
There are 4 main points:
- Your horse’s life stage
- Your horses’ activity level
- Any health problems they might have
- Your budget
Let’s bring out the meaning so that you can understand better!
Most horse feeds are made to satisfy the particular nutrient requirements of life stages and activity levels of equines. And they often specify on the packaging.
When examining your horses’ activity level, you need to feed them reasonably. It’s because overfeeding energy might make them “hot” and gain undesired weight.
In case this happens, avoid reducing the amount under the recommended feeding rate. Or your horse won’t get enough nutrients he needs.
It’s best to change to another lower energy feed and check the result.
If your four-legged friend has a particular health issue that can be affected by his feed, you need to examine the info from the bag or your veterinarian carefully.
For instance, using the Cool Calories 100 for horses with a history of feed-related laminitis is ideal.
Last but not least, you should consider your budget. Since the features and benefits of feed might increase the cost, you have to ask whether you can buy this product at the suggested feeding levels.
Remember that the feeding rates change between the products and it might influence the cost to feed the horse every day.
3 golden rules to feed your horses
Rule 1 – Satisfy basic demands
The basic nutritional requirements such as vitamins, minerals, protein, energy, and water are a vital part of any feeding plan.
Vitamins and minerals are some of the easiest to control. They are often met with good-quality hay. Or a pure vitamin supplement together with a mineral block in your horse’s pasture is enough.
The intake of protein should be 10 to 12% of his total diet. Make sure to check the protein levels in the horse feed because he isn’t getting enough if being fed less than 10% protein.
Energy is the number of calories the horses take in, whether it’s from hay, pasture, or supplements. Giving enough energy helps them to perform their job and maintain a good weight.
The last thing is the water. Just ensure that they drink enough water and it must be clean.
Rule 2 – Make it small
Keep in mind that your horse’s stomach is designed to contain 2 to 4 gallons of material at any given time.
And in the natural environment, he needs 16 hours each day of grazing. So, it’s best to feed him small and frequent meals in case he’s not grazing all day in the pasture.
Ideally, if your horse is kept on or lives inside a dry all day, you should feed small amounts about 4 times per day. In case it’s not possible, you can offer hay in slow-feed nests to make feeding time longer.
Rule 3 – Trust experts
The truth is that feed companies have done an excellent job in recent years of introducing safe and well-formulated rations. And there is no reason why you don’t take advantage of their expertise.
All the products that we’ve mentioned above are guaranteed to give the best results for your equines.
FAQs to best horse feed
Q1: When should I feed the horses?
For horses with ulcers, you need to feed them right up to the time of competition. It’s because hay will buffer their stomach from excess acid. It’s best to use alfalfa hay instead of grass hay.
Horse feeds, or grain that is high in starch should be given at least 4 hours before competition or exercise.
Avoid feeding over 6 lbs of grain or horse feed at one time or your horse will get much strain on their hindgut. This causes fermentation and the rise of intestinal acidity. Moreover, it enhances the risk of colic and digestive ailments.
Q2: How much should I feed a mare that is feeding a foal?
Mares need about 44% energy requirements when they are feeding a foal.
During their first three months of lactation, they might give up nearly 3% of their body weight per day in total milk production. That means a 1,100-pound mare will give up almost 24 pounds of milk every day.
Therefore, you need to feed them about 30 lbs of hay and 20 lbs of horse feed daily.
Q3: How much should I feed the horses with particular demands?
If your four-legged friends are sensitive to dietary starch, you should feed them a diet that is high in fat rather than starch.
For horses with common respiratory issues, they need to eat quality wood shavings instead of straw.
It’s because straw tends to mold with ease. Even if you cannot smell or see it, straw often includes mold spores that might irritate your horses and make them cough.
Q4: Does feeding more grain (or protein) make your horse “hot”?
Protein is necessary to repair tissue tear and wear and offer energy. If your horses obtain less protein, healing wounds and recovering from exercising is tough.
But whether or not feeding more grain makes them “hot,” you need to base on the amount of non-structural carbohydrates that he needs.
Note that different grains come with varying amounts of NSC. Among, corns (60%) and oats (52%) have the highest one.
Q5: How to concentrate on feeding my horses?
You have to base on your horses’ breed and discipline to find the right horse feed regiment.
For example, endurance horses require a diet that includes a 75-25 ratio of 75% fat and 25% glucose. Hunters need 50-50 while three-day eventers ask for 67% fat and 33% glucose.
Your final choice is…
Among the top 5 picks above, our best horse feed for equines of all life stages will be the Manna Pro Calf-Manna Supplement.
Not only does it offer a reasonable price but also gives spectacular results thanks to the appearance of yeast culture, amino acids, proteins, etc. It’s a double-performance feed that is good for weight gain as well as performance horses.
Generally, you’re guaranteed to get a good deal if ORDERING this product.
Of course, don’t mind asking any questions in case you want to know more about this topic.
Or you can consult other posts to find more good feed for your horses such as the best horse calming supplement or best horse vitamin & mineral supplements
Once again, thanks for reading, guys!
References:
