Miniature Horse
Information Pages

FEEDING

 

Feed

 Calories Per Pound  

Pasture

245

Orchard Grass Hay

872

Alfalfa Hay

977

Timothy Hay

804

Alfalfa Pellets

970

Corn

1,536

Premium Oats

1,250

Beet Pulp

1,059

 Equine Shine (Rice Bran)

1,600

Corn Oil

4,081
How many calories do different feeds provide?
Listed are estimated calories per pound for different types of feeds.

 

 

Watch for Blister Beetle in your Alfalfa! - This bale had 50 to 60 beetles visible between several of the middle flakes of the hay. Certainly enough to kill a 1200# horse, to say nothing of a Mini. In picking through the hay for a count, I actually ended up with little blisters on my fingers and hands. Imagine what a tongue or mouth would feel like let alone an esophagus, stomach, or intestine! - Jan Gauntlett, Mars-Montrose Miniature Horses & Llamas

Typically, adult blister beetles emerge from the soil during mid-to late summer. This insect group becomes a problem when beetles are killed by modern harvesting equipment and incorporated into baled alfalfa. Dead or living blister beetles contain cantharidin, an irritant of the gastrointestinal and urinary tracts of horses. Typical symptoms of cantharidin poisoning of horses include abnormal breathing patterns, the horse standing with its mouth in water for long periods of time and general restless behavior. Also mentioned in another article was these symptoms, ulcerations of the mouth, frequent play in water with lips and tongue, pawing, frequent attempts to urinate, stretching, jerking contractions of the diaphragm, diarrhea, discared intestinal tract lining in the stool and reduced levels of calcium and magnesium in the blood. If blister beetles are consumed by a horse, a vet. should be called immediately. Researchers believe that as few as 50 to 100 beetles consumed in a 24 hour period can result in poisoning and possible death of a horse. Another article says that 30 to 50 striped blister beetles would need to be eaten in order to kill a normal sized healthy horse. As few as two to five may cause colic in horses. 

Feeding Beet Pulp - Has anyone had any experiences feeding beet pulp? We are thinking about feeding it to our 2 minis and 3 pygmy goats in addition to hay this winter, as the hay quality here in WI is not the greatest this year.

  • I'm feeding it to my QH that's down in weight and it's working well for him. The only thing is it's only filler and it doesn't have the vitamins your horses need. If I was going to feed it to my mini's I'd only give them about a half of cup soaked in water and see how that works, you can always increase the amount if you think they need it.....Good luck
  • I feed it to my show horses and it has really improved them. Smoothes them out and help take the bellies off. We feed just a handful with the morning feed after soaking overnight.
  • We've got a few older horses and also a few who we are trying to get some weight on ... we feed them beet pulp! On one old gelding, I swear it took ten years off of his life, he looks and feels way better!!!
  • I have not yet fed it to the minis, but have feed beet pulp to our big horses off and on for over 15 yrs, when they needed more weight or it was really cold. You just have to start off slowly, and build up to how much you want to give them, also be sure and soak it at least overnight, I never worry about to much water and just use a slotted spoon to serve it.

Feeding Foals - I have two Shetland weanling fillies. Along with Alfalfa hay, I am feeding them a Mare & Foal pellet, (18% Protein) daily. To what age does a foal need a higher protein feed supplement, such as Mare & Foal, Calf Manna, etc? I would very much appreciate any input. Thanks!!

  • If you happen to get Miniature Horse World, there is a great article on Housing and Feeding Weanlings (page 62). Here is a paragraph from this article. "Research at Oklahoma State University showed that high energy/low protein rations resulted in less growth and body condition than feeding a high energy/high protein ration or low energy/low protein ration to weanlings. Feed intake was less with the high energy/low protein ration. Animals eat less feed, not more, when protein is limited".
    • I agree that she should probably read up on this, but what I have found to be very true is yes you need to feed the right amount of protein to babies and adult horses and ponies but so many of us feed tooooo much protein. Some people feed their horses here dairy quality Alfalfa hay which will really burn them up and cause all kinds of problems. I especially think that you mini owners feed your minis way too much protein.
  • Well it would seem to me that with feeding the Alfalfa hay and the 18% protein pellets, that they might be getting to much protein. Most people are mistaken and think they must feed their foals high protein, which can cause a number of problems including apitasiteous (probably spelled that wrong). Some people say your colt is pithy, it is a leg growth problem. What kind of Alfalfa hay is it and do you know the protein content? Mare & foal is usually fed right before and after the mare foals when baby is young and Calf Manna is used mostly for fattening up horses who are not gaining weight. If you are feeding a high protein straight Alfalfa I would stop feeding the pelleted feed and switch to a whole oat-sweet feed mix and pick a vitamin to be included in their grain.
    • I would like to know what apitasiteous is? I have never heard of it. Could you please explain what it is? Thanks.
      • I believe ***** meant to say Epiphysitis, which is swelling around the growth plates of some bones in horses. There is more than one cause, but one is the imbalance of the calcium/phosphorous ratios in a horse's diet.

 

~~~ BACK TO INFO MAIN PAGE ~~~

Get me back to L'il Beginnings Miniature Horses main page please!