Feeding on the Trail

Trail riders are regularly faced with feeding choices on the trail. Whether feed is needed what to feed and when to feed are some of the questions we face. There are no blanket answers to these questions the horse the available feed the time of year and the length of the trip are some of the many factors that affect feeding decisions. Riders also have different opinions on these matters and there is more than one way to ensure that a horse gets good nutrition on the trail.
Although the nutritive value of grasses varies palatable green grasses generally have all of the nutrition that your horse will need on the trail. If you are able to feed your horse on grass you generally do not need supplements of any kind. It may be surprising to some that high mountain grasses often have more protein and energy than valley bottom grasses. However as the riding season progresses to fall and winter grasses lose nutritive value and it can become critical to supplement the natural feed especially for horses that have been on the trail all season.

The first thing to consider is the length of your trip and the time of year. If your horse is on a single trip lasting two weeks or less and goes on the trail healthy and with good weight then supplemental feeding for health purposes is unnecessary providing green grasses are available for feed. Moreover if the horse is fat it would be just fine to lose some bodyweight while working on the trail for a week or two provided feeding times are generous.
Outfitters and trail riding operations that use horses throughout the season need to give more consideration to extra feed and supplements as these horses are spending calories over a long period and will lose condition. As autumn approaches the condition of horses that have not been kept up will drop off quickly as the nutrient levels in grasses fall.
The most common problem I see with trail feeding is horses that are given only one or two short feeding periods during the day and then tied up or confined at night. A horses stomach and intestine is best suited to multiple feedings over a long period of time and it does not have the capacity to hold large quantities and ruminate as a cows gut would. An hour of feeding in the evening and