Sweet feed for horses is a concentrated feed for horses. It is a fairly recent development that the horse can get in a variety of ways. But often, it is administered in a bucket after being mixed with water.
If you’re considering giving this product to your horse, you should be aware of how to use it properly. There are alternatives if it’s vital to feed your horse sweet feed.
What is Sweet Feed?
Sweet feed for horses is a feed additive that improves horse blood sugar and energy levels, allowing for peak performance. Horses with hectic, active, or athletic lifestyles were the target market for the development of sweet feed.
A set of several grain diets provided to horses is sweet feeds. Oats, corn, various grasses, additives, minerals, and vitamins are examples of grains. Additionally, these dishes include a lot of molasses. While some horses adore it, others may regard it as junk. Below are examples of the most popular sweet feed horses.
Molasses
Molasses sweet feed is a byproduct of the sugar industry in the production of pellets. It is renowned as a quick source of energy for horses and includes 50% sugar. It has a terrible reputation because of its negative effects, which include a rise in insulin levels and the propensity to cause laminitis if not ingested in moderation.
Sugar Cubes
White sugar cubes act as a reward to horses by some horse owners. The horses would not typically discover this as a natural source of energy in the wild. Avoid using sugar cubes and opt instead for natural meals like carrots when treating your horse.
Fruit
Whether it’s an apple, pear, or banana, some horses will enjoy it while others would gaze at you bewildered! We advise individuals to utilize fruits as rewards while teaching tricks to horses or as treats in general. Try to get your fruit from an organic local source or even peel them yourself because the majority of the fruit contains pesticides on the peal.
Grain Pellets
All the major companies will attempt to sell you anything and everything in the shape of pre-mixed grain pellets at this point. Theoretically, this makes sense, but commercially prepared sweet horse feed often contains a lot of sugar and byproducts.
If you’re considering giving your horse grains, conduct your investigation before deciding which brand to buy.
Is Sweet Feed Good for Horses?
Is sweet feed good for horses? Horse owners frequently ask me this question, as you might probably guess. To begin with, let me explain that I do not believe sweet feed is a decent product for horses. Several factors contribute to this, some of which I will discuss further in this post, but the primary one is that the product is not natural.
Equine Sweet Feed Brands
It’s crucial to understand that not all horse sweet feeds are equal if you want to purchase some. One of the most significant investments you make for your horse should be equine sweet feed; the caliber of the feed will affect how well your horse performs. Given the variety of horse sweet feeds available, you should choose which kind to use.
Some of the grains and other products available in stores might be useful to you. It’s important to keep in mind that since sweet feed doesn’t contain any roughage, it’s best to offer your horse some hay following the sweet meal. The brands of sweet feed are listed below.
Stock and Stable 12% Sweet Horse Feed
For horses who need basic nourishment and are simple to manage, Stock and Stable® feed – 12 percent Sweet Horse Feed is an excellent bargain.
12% Sweet Feed (Producer’s Pride)
Producer’s Pride, 12% sweet feed for horses, is available in 50-pound (22.5-kilogram) bags from horse feed tractor supply businesses. Its creation was to satisfy the nutritional requirements of older horses. This formula specifically contains the protein, vitamins, and minerals needed to keep adult horses strong and healthy.
Producers Pride sweet feed contains 12 percent crude protein. It gives your adult horses a supply of vitamins and nutrients that help the body mend tissue, develop hair, and keep them generally happy and healthy.
Country Road Midwestern Sweet Mix Feed, 50lb. Bag
You can rely on Country Road for goods that keep your herd prospering, healthy, and happy. Country Road provides feed that is manufactured with high-quality ingredients and designed to assist your animals at every stage of life.
This versatile livestock feed is the ideal addition to your existing forage programs. Country Road Midwestern Sweet Mix feed, which is grain-textured and has molasses added for improved palatability, offers a cost-effective source of energy for a range of cattle.
Manna Pro Sweet Feed
All-grain Manna Pro horse feed has a pleasant molasses scent. Comparing Manna Pro absorption to TSC SF, it was much higher.
How to Make Sweet Feed for Horses
Making your horse sweet feed is considered by most horse owners to be one of the finest methods to cut costs associated with maintaining a horse. One of the best ways to keep a horse healthy and content is to provide a diet that consists primarily of sweet feed all year long.
The names of the grains in the mixture will be listed if a company has created the feed. It allows the user to identify the mix’s ingredients without opening the bag.
The carton also contains supplements for vitamins and proteins. The bag also has the smallest amount of each nutrient in the blend. The box lists the crude fat concentration at its best level, nevertheless.
Molasses is required because it gives the combination its sweetness. It will also be light for you to carry and simple for the horses to eat. Recall that you may add water to the feed to make it less sticky. Additionally, it will ensure that the pellets (supplements) stay in the mixture. The horse won’t miss any of the nutrients in the feed when it consumes the meal.
The Uses of Equine Sweet Feed
It is true that this feed is incomplete and that not all horses can use it. However, several factors should encourage you to purchase such feeds for your horse. Continue reading to learn how to take advantage of these feeds.
A Source of Energy
Horses are energetic creatures who like participating in a variety of activities. After consuming these nutrients, your horse should get increased strength. Racehorses, working horses, farm horses, and developing horses can all get it. Depending on the quality of the mix, how it survives will change.
Increases the Horse’s Appetite
Horses, especially young ones in the weaning stage, can benefit greatly from the sweet feed in terms of improving their feeding habits. Once your horse uses the sweet feed mix, its appetite or eating habits will improve. But keep in mind that most young children will like eating other meals in the mixture over pellets or supplements.
Improves the Gut
The delicious feed all around them will offer the horses something to chew on, which is something they need to do to have a stronger digestive system. Additionally, less starch will ferment. If your horse eats quickly, it will not experience choking since it is necessary to chew the feeds for a lengthy period before swallowing.
Gives the Ease Of Feeding
Your horse can eat a limited amount of food packed in sweet feeds for some time. It will be simple to feed your horse each week without worrying about the feed degrading in quality. You’ll just need to choose a few little bits to give to your horse. The end effect will be an improvement in your horse’s feeding routine.
You Can Use it To Give Medications
Some individuals provide drugs to their horses using these diets. The moist molasses will assist ensure that the medication is thoroughly incorporated into the grains and will make it simpler for the horse to consume the medication.
It is better to visit your veterinarian to determine the best method for giving the medication. The medications will help your horse eat healthily and recover from the illness.
Pros and Cons of Sweet Feed for Horses
Pros
The benefits of feeding your horse sweet feed are listed below.
- It is good to administer certain medications.
- The young horses receive a mix of more calories, lipids, and proteins.
- Additionally, a variety of stores sell it.
- More affordable than pellets.
- Through the chewing effect, it enhances the horse’s GI tract.
Cons
These feeds have several drawbacks. Please check through them.
- Not many horses would like to consume such rations.
- In warmer conditions, the molasses may also hasten the spoilage of the feed.
- Additionally, the molasses may attract insects that are bad for the horse’s health.
Precautions When Feeding Equine Sweet Feed
There is no doubt that horses benefit from sweet feed since it gives them focused, rapid energy. Additionally, since it is necessary to keep our horses quiet and comfortable, the sweet feed can be advantageous to them. Despite being beneficial for both of these, sweet feed is not without risk. Here are some crucial safety measures to follow while giving a sweet feed.
Paying too Little Attention to Forage
Foraging receives insufficient attention. The main components of the ordinary horse’s diet are hay, pasture, plus small amounts of concentrates. An equine nutritionist complains that too many people believe feeding hay to horses is merely busywork.
If you’ve tried everything to increase a horse’s weight, moving to young, lush grass hay is a secure option to provide additional calories.
Proportional Feeding
Filling the grain sack to the brim. The two main sources of energy are grain and sweet feed. Less grain is often healthier for horses. For some horses, grass alone is not enough to meet their calorie needs.
Numerous health issues, like as colic and laminitis, have been linked to high-starch grains. For weight maintenance, horses that train for an hour or more each day in activities like reining or jumping need additional rations in the form of grains.
Proportional Feeding
Feeding through volume as opposed to weight. When modifying or revising your diet, it’s crucial to pay attention to the weight of corn because it is heavier and more in calories than other feeds.
Instead of scooping it out, use a kitchen scale to calculate how much of a pound of feed you consume. After looking at the package for the calorie count per pound, weigh each dish using a scale.
Giving the Improper Feed to the Wrong Horse.
Inconsistencies that might be dangerous can emerge from feeding the wrong feed to the wrong horse. There are many categories of feeds for different horse types, including growing young horses, hardworking adults, broodmares, and geriatric horses.
The major impact, according to Sarah Ralston, VMD, PhD, is that adult diets lack the mineral amounts that young horses require. “Abnormal growth and developmental orthopedic disease may ensue.”
Overloading Nutrients
Excessive nutrient load. According to Crandell, one usual mistake is augmenting the horse’s diet without first establishing whether the diet is already overly rich in any specific nutrients. Calculate the nutrients a horse gets from his basic feed diet before adding a vitamin or mineral supplement to prevent causing hazardous imbalances.
Failing to Provide Salt
Not providing salt. The electrolytes sodium and chloride, which make up table salt, are crucial for numerous biological processes. Both are lost via sweat and need to be replaced by meals. Furthermore, these are the only essential elements that are not naturally present in grains and grasses.
Horses naturally need salt, and they will eat what they require. The simplest option to provide your herd access to this essential mineral is to lay a salt block in the pasture, but if you want to make sure that every horse gets the salt they require, you could decide to put out numerous blocks or even put a tiny block in each horse’s stall.
A Final Word
Sweet feed is solely for horses. While most pellets are dry food, sweet feed is a supplement that is rich in nutrients. Unlike most pellets, which are dry foods, sweet feed is a pellet food with added vitamins and minerals.
Contrary to most pellets, which are dry foods, sweet feed is a high-grade, pelletized feed. Most pellets are dry and require mixing, whereas sweet feed is a convenient, all-in-one diet. sweet feed is effective! Give it a shot right now.
