Dr. Valentine,

I am a new member and I will try to keep this as brief as possible. I adopted Bear two months ago. I've never owned a draft before. I have some real concerns about his feeding. At this time, he is being fed 2 cups of alfalfa cubes, 1 and a half cups of alfalfa pellets, and 8 flakes of grass hay a day. He is not getting any ground work at the moment because he is not broken. Is this a sufficient amount? I am following the feeding instructions of the rescue foundation. This just does not seem, to me, to be enough for bear.

On top of that, the barn manager where we board him, thinks that we should be giving him only 4 pounds of sweet feed a day. can you please help us???

Kasandra ; you forgot to say what breed your horse is and it's age.Also you mention that the barn manager recommends "only 4 lbs. of sweet feed" , is he getting more than that ? Anyway , if he's a large draft or any draft, sweet feed is OUT , . I'd weigh him if possible ,if not there's a link on one of these pages that gives a formula for getting a weight for a draft, based on measurements. If he's maintaining his weight on the hay and alfalfa cubes , then don't worry about it , except if your feeding sweet feed,find a pelleted feed high in fat and low in sugar and carbs, I get ours made at a local feed store so there's no brand name to tell you , Buckeye Feeds has a high fat feed.
I have a 15 yr.old Belgian gelding , about 1800 lbs. , he gets 2 meals of 8oz. hi-fat feed w/supplements plus free choice grass hay per day and we ride and work our horses a little each week as we trail ride, but do not farm, and he keeps his weight constant.Dr.Beth will have more info for you I'm sure , She's good , do what she tells you and you and your horse will be happy. Nothing beats a Draft horse .

Butch,

Thanks for the info.Bear is a Bel/Perch. He is eight years old.I DO NOT give him any sweet feed.He is only getting alfalfa pellets,alfalfa cubes, and hay.
I have never felt so stupid.I have had an Arab for six years and never doubted what I was doing.With my Bear I feel I am always at a loss and second guessing myself!Having said that I love him more than ANY horse I have ever owned.

Butch's advice here is right on. Definitely do not let this trainer feed your horse sweet feed! Given his breeding, I would recommend adding some fat to his diet. Oil added to the alfalfa cubes and pellets would be very effective at helping to prevent the muscle problems that about 2/3 of all draft related horses are prone to (known as equine polysaccharide storage myopathy or EPSM - there is a lot more information on EPSM in the Contents of this site). Any vegetable type oil is fine, especially when you can buy in bulk. In a boarding situation you may have to make up meals in advance using reusable food containers. Start with about 1/4 cup oil per meal and increase by 1/4 cup per meal every week or so and aim for about 2 cups oil per 1000 lbs of horse per day. He may not need quite this much and may not want to eat that much but it doesn't hurt to try, as this is the EPSM treatment "dose." Be sure he also gets a vitamin E supplement (never hurts and sometimes helps, especially if he doesn't get a lot of green grass pasture) and selenium if your area is deficient.

There is more information on draft diets, EPSM, and other draft health issues in the Rural Heritage book Draft Horses, an Owner's Manual, that you can see in this site's Book Store.

I hope this helps, and good luck with him!

Kasandra: Don't worry, there really is not much difference in a draft vs. light breed, feeding wise. Actually, we have both and the drafts are easier all around. They learn fast and can do anything a light horse can do, except a little slower in turns etc. I've had mine out to Clinton Anderson's ranch for a 3-day clinic and he showed up the other horses. They're just impressive to see and most horse people are amazed when they see one all cleaned up and someone riding them. As I've been told, "They didn't think you could ride them." I just tell them, "It's a horse. Why not?" Good luck.

I can second what Butch says - "nothing beats a Draft horse" I have e-mailed this site many times with the trials and tribulations of my ERSM Belgian (Squib) who I sadly lost just over a year ago. I now have a lovely little TB on loan who is about as complete opposite from Squib as you can get. I always maintain Drafts - large head, large brain; TBs small head, small brain! Squib was an intelligent horse and sometimes too intelligent for her own good. I really miss not having a draft.

Dr.Valentine,Butch, and Ingrid,

Thank you all for your input.Dr.Valentine,I dont know if you got my question on the amount Bear is getting and my question on Selenium?Bear is getting five pounds of Alfalfa pellets,two cups of Alfalfa cubes, and eight flakes of hay a day. Is this enough for his eighteen hundred pounds?
As for the Selenium,everyone of my equine friends is shocked at the Selenium idea. My boarding manager said she would NEVER give her horses Selenium! She said I should research it before I give Bear any. I have read your book from cover to cover. I believe he would benefit but everyone here has scared me that it could be dangerous. What if any are the dangers?
Thank you for all the help!
Kasandra

I thought I sent a selenium response but it seems to have been lost in cyberspace. The need for selenium supplementation varies according to where you live. Check the selenium map in the book and in the Contents of this site to see whether your area is prone to selenium deficiency. When you aren't feeding commercial feeds with added selenium at the manufacturer's recommended levels (which I think are almost always too high, especially when you are adding fat)then you can't rely on that for selenium. If your soil is selenium deficient and your hay is grown in selenium deficient soil then your horse will likely need a supplement. Horses need about 2 mg selenium per 1000 lbs of horse per day. If a product lists selenium at ppm you can calculate the selenium in an ounce (the usual dose of a supplement) by multiplying the ppm of selenium by 0.45 (1 ppm = 0.45 mg per pound of product), then divide by 16 to get the mg of selenium per ounce of product. When in doubt, ask your veterinarian to send a whole blood sample for selenium testing. Selenium is toxic in high amounts and causes serious hoof and hair problems, but if your area is selenium deficient you'd have to work pretty hard to feed too much. In most areas supplements with 1 mg selenium per 1000 lbs of horse per day works fine, figuring some selenium from other feed sources. In the Pacific Northwest many horses need 2 mg selenium per 1000 lbs of horse per day. Again, your best bet is to test whole blood for selenium content after being on a particular diet for a couple of months or so. As to amounts of feed for Bear, if he is maintaining good weight on his current feed then you are feeding enough. I hope this helps!