Forage Facts
1. Forage is the term used to describe all feed for the horse derived from long plant material. The most usual forms are: grasses, fresh and conserved; Alfalfa, which is also known as Lucerne and usually conserved, and straw (when used for feeding).
2. Forage forms the largest part of the horse's diet and the horse is well adapted to digest it, we are not! If a horse is short of forage (fibre) in its diet it will try to find it from other sources, such as chewing the stable or fence (wood). Horses left to their own devices will browse rather than graze, eating grass, weeds, herbs, bark and anything else that takes their fancy. At different times of the year, they eat different plants. Nature is amazing and when allowed, will take care of their day to day needs for life!
3. Forage is essential for the health of the horse's digestive system. The horse requires both soluble fibre and indigestible fibre. Think of an apple, the skin that is the apple's protective barrier is indigestible fibre and the flesh is soluble fibre. In grasses and the stem of plants, the protective outside layer and the tough bits that give the plant stability are made up of indigestible fibre and the flesh is digestible fibre.
4. The horse's digestive system is not dissimilar to ours, in that it has a single stomach and small intestine for the digestion of some starch and proteins, but the horse then has a much-enlarged large intestine and caecum compared to ours. This area is basically a fermentation chamber where the digestion of both soluble and indigestible fibre takes place. Bacteria are present in great numbers to break down both types of fibre. It is the by-products from the bacteria that the horse absorbs, as well as the micro constituents from the rest of the feed. The fibre while passing through the gut takes moisture with it and thus ensures a steady and efficient passage of all feed.
5. Quality Forage, both in nutrient analysis and cleanliness (free from dust and mould) is essential to ensure the health of the horse's gut and the well being of the horse as a whole.
6. Energy from Forage, energy (we know it as calories) can be derived from both cereals and forage. Cereals include oats, barley, maize and peas and will be found in Badminton Horse Feeds coarse mixtures and cubes. Each cereal has a related energy level, and this energy is released relatively early on in the horse's digestive system and seems to be associated with 'fizz' in the behaviour of the horse. While, energy derived from forage seems to be used by the horse in a much quieter and controlled manner, without such dramatic results.
It is a balance of feeding forage with cereals that allows the horse to have sufficient energy in a form required (fizz or no fizz) to be able to perform the amount of work that we require of it.
Nature developed the horse to be able to fulfil its needs by browsing, to live, grow, keep warm, move about, flee from attackers etc, not carry us over show jumps, into the hunting field, ride over long distances and carry or pull heavy loads. These activities either require the feeding of value added forage such as the Badminton Forage range to provide the necessary energy and protein or the addition of cereals to the diet.