5 Feeding Tips for a Horse under Confinement

Keeping a sick horse under stable confinement can be unpleasant for the horse as well as the owner, but it is necessary to help the horse overcome illness or injury. Depending on the extent of the injury/illness, the vet could recommend a few weeks of confinement, during which the owner/caregiver must pay special attention to the horse's diet. Below are a few feeding tips to help your horse recover:

1. Feed properly

A proper diet is important to improve health and maintain the horse's well-being. Most likely, your vet has mentioned what you can feed the horse, but if not, bulk and protein are the most important dietary needs. The bulk will prevent the horse from getting hungry too fast, and the protein is important for healing and repair. High-quality meadow hay can provide both, without giving excess protein which can make the horse colicky. Water is important to ensure the horse doesn't get dehydrated. If they're not taking to the water well, adding a little salt can help them to drink more.

2.  Make changes gradually

If you need to make dietary changes, do so gradually to avoid colic. For instance, high-activity horses are fed grain to give more protein and energy, but in illness this will need to be reduced and replaced with quality hay. Allow the horse to eat all the hay he wants, as hay makes for a great bulk/maintenance feed. Feeding will also keep him entertained. Horses confined during pregnancy or lactation have higher protein requirements, and these can be met using grain-based commercial feed or lucerne hay. Talk to your vet to ensure you don't feed them too much protein.

3. Ensure high fibre with concentrated feeds

If you only have poor-quality hay, you may have no choice but to use more concentrated feed (which has more energy than forage diets) such as sugar beet, bran, maize etc. In such cases, it's important to ensure the horse's fibre requirements are met. You can use boiled barley, processed sugar beet, dampened bran or lucerne hay which are nutritious and more fibrous than regular high-energy grains.

4. Monitor droppings

The horse's droppings are a useful indicator regarding the suitability of the diet. They shouldn't be too dry or too sloppy. If too loose, check if you're feeding them bran and reduce the quantity, because bran has laxative properties. If the droppings are too dry, you can mix some vegetable oil into their feed.

5. Give what they can eat

As owner/caregiver, it's important to ensure the horse eats well for proper healing and repair. If the horse doesn't like changes you're making, you can add a little molasses in the feed. Molasses will not only help them take to your changes, but it is useful for masking the taste of any prescribed medicine that needs to be mixed into the feed. Very sick horses may need extra encouragement to eat. If the vet allows, give him apples, carrots and handfuls of freshly-cut grass, as he's more likely to eat these. Don't hesitate to talk to the vet if anything unexpected happens or you're not sure about anything.