Additional Resources

Horse nutrition, as I've said over and over, is a complex topic to try to understand. Because it is such a wide and complex topic, it is impossible for any one resource, no matter how good it is, to provide all the information one would want about horse nutrition.

Therefore, for your benefit, I have provided this list of additional resources. All of them are resources that I have personally checked out, and some of them are resources found in my personal library that I refer to often.

You can click on the pictures of the resources to check them out.

If you don't see something you are interested in, check out the products offered by Amazon.

Books

Nutrient Requirements of Horses: Sixth Revised Edition

This book is usually my go-to resource for anything related to horse nutrition. Put out by the National Research Council (NRC) it covers everything related to horse nutrition, from vitamins and minerals, to different feedstuffs.

It also includes numerous charts and tables. One of the most useful ones in the entire book is the set of tables that include the required nutrients for horses based on their body weight. It must be remembered though, that the numbers in these tables often refer to the minimum amount needed to sustain life -- so most horses actually need more of any given nutrient to thrive.

The only drawback to this book is the high price tag. However, if you are serious about wanting to learn about horse nutrition, it is worth every penny. No other book I have found has been as complete.

Equine Nutrition by Karen Briggs

This is a very impressive book for the price. If you are looking for a fairly complete guide to horse nutrition that is easy to understand, you're looking for this book. It is well-written, covers every basic topic, and has a great price too.

The only complaint I have about this book is that some of the information is a bit unclear or slightly outdated. For example, the forage section includes alfalfa pellets as a forage but does not clearly state that they cannot safely replace hay for the average horse. Some of the tables include information from a previous edition of the NRC, and are therefore slightly off the current recommendations.

Newer feeds (such as BOSS and ration balancers) are generally not included, but that is not surprising since horse nutrition technology advances so quickly.

Overall, this book is definitely worth the $10 price tag, and it is included in my personal library.

Websites

The Mane Street

The Mane Street is a great website for anything horse related. Their forums are particularly useful to have specific questions answered.

In the article section, you will also find some good (although brief) articles about different issues related to horse nutrition.

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