Lesson in Feeding
Is your young horse a handful! Well it might be time to evaluate what you’re feeding. I’m Susan Allen stayed tuned on Open Range. After the break, how a simple change in feed even for a short duration might help young ranch and rope horses settle down. Many of us feed commercial mixes with corn, oats barley and molasses, known in the industry as sweet feed to keep our horses in top shape but a 2008 study from Montana State University revealed that might not be wise , especially when starting colts. There is no doubt that some horses can get hot even when fed small amounts of grain but Wade Black a graduate student and horse trainer at MSU’s colt starting program has presented evidence to the American Society of Animal Science showing that young horses fed only hay were easier to start than those fed a mixture of hay and grain. The study does not recommend withholding all supplements, rather to cut back during the initial thirty to sixty day training period. A group of closely genetically related quarter horses from one specific ranch were used in Blacks research and the MSU team found that the young horses on grain experienced more separation anxiety, were less submissive and basically frisker than the horses fed straight hay. So if you’re putting up with more crow-hops then you’d like when starting youngsters it be wise to analyze your feed better yet talk with a professional at your local Western Stockman or other feed store. I’m Susan Allen
