Question and Answers

Here is a selection of questions I have received from visitors regarding horse nutrition.

If you would like to submit your question for possible inclusion on this page, please submit the horse nutrition question form to me.

If you have a horse nutrition question that you want answered but not included on this page, you can still use that form...just indicate on it that you do not want your question included here.

Yes, you certainly can feed a ration balancer to your filly. I feed them to all my growing horses with great results. This filly, pictured below, has been fed only a ration balancer with a combination of alfalfa cubes, beet pulp, and/or oats in addition to her pasture and hay for her entire life.

For more information, check out the ration balancer page if you haven't done so already. Thanks for a great question!

In general, no. Calf Manna is what is called an all-stock product, meaning that it is made to feed all species (sheep, cattle, horses, etc).

Because it has to be safe for all species, it is not nutritionally "correct" for any species -- it has too much of some nutrients, and not enough of others (this is mostly the case).

Though some horses appear to do well on it, there are many better choices for increasing protein, putting weight on, or feeding foals and broodmares...

...a product designed specifically for horses is going to be your best bet, as it will be formulated to the right amounts of vitamins and minerals that your horse needs.

Calf Manna also has high amounts of grain (especially corn) that make it have even more of a negative effect on the equine digestive system.

With all the advances in equine feeds in the past years, Calf Manna is not something that I would feed to any of my horses.

Yes, you can feed these feeds to a gelding...in fact, they are appropriate for almost every class of horse as the base of the diet, as they are both ration balancers.

Why do I say both? Because your feed dealer is a little bit mis-informed. Yes, the name of the Mare & Maintenance has now changed...but it is now Enrich12, while Enrich 32 is what used to be called Born to Win.

The Enrich12 (Mare & Maintenance) is meant to be fed with alfalfa diets, while the Enrich32 (Born to Win) is meant to be fed with primarily grass diets.

Thanks for a great question!!