Top 3 Reasons to Feed Your Horse a Whole Food Diet
With so much information and interest in whole food diets for humans, it is no wonder some equestrians are wondering if a whole food diet might be right for their horses as well. It makes sense. Horses in the wild, and many in captivity, eat only whole foods like grasses, legumes, and other green leafy plants. Many domestic horses eat a diet of dry hay that lacks many minerals and vitamins present in fresh grass. They also eat extruded, refined, and cooked down pellets with additives and sugars.
We can give our horses more whole foods by adding in grazing time, offering fresh snacks like carrots or watermelon, and giving beet pulp or copra meal in place of manufactured and highly processed grains. We can use herbs and plants as medicine, like chia, turmeric, or kelp.
But why make the switch at all?
More bioavailability
Whole foods are in a form that your horse’s body knows how to use. Many synthetic vitamins and minerals are not available to the horse, leading them to be wasted or stored in potentially toxic levels in vital organs. Whole foods give horses key nutrients in a usable form and in conjunction with the vitamins and minerals that make them work best. Nature has it all figured out.
More fiber, less sugar
Refined and processed feeds are often laden with sugar in an attempt to make them tastier to our four-legged friends. They are also naturally lower in fiber than any green leafy plant our horses might encounter. So, feeding whole foods is a great way to increase fiber, leading to a healthier gut and microbiome, fewer ulcers, and less laminitis. Reducing sugar in our horses’ diet is critical to their metabolic health, immune function, and even energy levels.
Enriching behaviors
Eating whole foods is an activity for horses that actually enriches their life. It stimulates their brains in ways that a feed bucket simply can’t. Stuffing carrots or lettuce into a treat ball, going for a grazing walk, or having a turnout in pasture all have profound impacts on horse’s brains and behavioral well being.
So with all of these reasons it should be easy to make the switch to a more whole food diet for your horse.