“Critical Thinking” is a term that sums up a process of asking questions, doing research, comparing results and considering sources. The end result of this process should be a decision or opinion based on the data obtained. Every marketing department of every company on the planet builds its marketing plan depending on the fact that the average consumer will not use many critical thinking skills Read more…
The following information is provided to horse owners making decisions for feeding their horses. The horse feed industry is worth an estimated $9 billion in annual revenue and there are many companies attempting to tap into this market and the competition is fierce. Because horses are considered livestock there are very few regulatory protections against frivolous claims of efficacy in feeds and supplements. There are Read more…
Like all mammals, horses require carbohydrates for a ready source of energy to get through their day. Just like humans too many carbs have consequences for horses but those consequences are far more debilitating to horses. It is becoming more common knowledge that non structural carbohydrates (NSC) are worth watching in horses dealing with metabolic or genetic muscular conditions like EMS, PPID and PSSM. There Read more…
This will be a “part deux” to the “Feed Tag Bingo” post. We’ll be looking at an actual feed tag and pointing out the games feed producers play with feed tags. The tag in question is from a rather popular local mill in my area and is for their “12% Performance Horse Feed”. Based on the guaranteed analysis the name is fitting. It is indeed Read more…
There are currently hundreds of commercial horse feed formulations offered by just the major feed companies. If we include the smaller companies and local mills the number increases into the thousands. Owners use different criteria for making these decisions but the one I see most frequently is the feed tag. Why not? The feed tag lists nutrients and ingredients in a convenient presentation so why Read more…
There is much misinformation surrounding the primary commodities used in producing commercial horse feeds. Some of this misinformation comes from competitors within the industry trying to raise doubts in their competitor’s quality. Other sources flow from a conflation of consequences of feeding these commodities to species other than horses. Cats, dogs and humans share very little common ground when it comes to equine metabolism and Read more…
I really wanted to focus on fat for this article but it is impossible to discuss the role of fat in a horse’s diet without looking at the major sources of energy that play a role in selecting a diet for a horse. The reason I wanted to focus on fat is that supplemental fat seems to be the default “go to” for weight gain Read more…
The cost of feed has been rising rapidly since the beginning of 2021. The cost of commodities like corn and soybeans is skyrocketing as are the cost of transportation, energy and labor. Horses are an expensive proposition to begin with so can we manage these increases without a huge negative impact on our horses? The answer has several moving parts because it’s not so much Read more…
Every bag of commercial horse feed has a feed tag attached. A few companies print their feed tag information directly onto the bag. This information can be both extremely useful as well as misleading. Feed tags are largely misunderstood by consumers and this article should help provide some insight into what a feed tag tells us as well as what it does not. The Role Read more…
Historically, concentrated horse feeds were referred to by two numbers; protein and fat. This feed is a “12-6” and that feed is a “14-3”. These numbers represent the percentages of weight for protein and fat as minimum values of the guaranteed analysis on the feed tag. These are very important values when choosing a feed for your horse. I would also add fiber as a Read more…