Creating the Right Mix: Understanding Nutrients in a Horse's Diet

than coolseason grasses such as orchardgrass or timothy and warmseason grasses such as Bermuda grass. In terms of maturity protein amounts are usually highest when the plant is more immature and in a leafy vegetative state compared to mature stemmy plants with seed heads.
Protein can also be found in grain and concentrates. The amount of protein found in each grain will vary but generally grains have less protein on a dry matter basis as compared to forages. However the largest amount of protein will be found in seed meals which are the byproduct created when oil is extracted from oil seeds such as canola soybean and sunflower. The most common one used in equine diets is soybean meal it is also a legume and legumes in general also have higher levels of protein Figure 3. Concentrates such as sweet feed or pelleted feed that are high in protein often contain some soybean meal.
Vitamins
A vitamin is defined as a compound that is required in small amounts in the diet for essential body functions. Vitamins are typically grouped by their solubilityin other words how well a substance dissolves in water or fat. Vitamins A D E and K are considered fatsoluble while vitamin C and the many B vitamins thiamin riboflavin biotin etc. are considered watersoluble.
Each vitamin plays an important role in the body. For example vitamin A is vital to healthy vision while vitamin D is important for healthy bones. Deficiencies in many of these vitamins cause disease and less commonly excess amounts can also cause disease.
Because vitamins are found in such small amounts in the body they can be hard to accurately measure. Generally if you are feeding your horse enough moderatetogoodquality forage and a commercial feed and the horse is healthy they are probably receiving sufficient levels of vitamins.

If your horse has poorquality forage for example if the hay is sun bleached then it will have lower amounts of vitamins then consider adding a ration balancer to your horses diet. If your horse is not healthy and a veterinarian thinks the issue is a vitamin imbalance then you should work with a nutritionist to balance the diet.
Minerals
Minerals are essential elements needed by the body for essential life functions. Similar to vitamins minerals are needed in very small quantities in the diet and each mineral plays a specific role. For example calcium is an important component of bone.
The list of minerals found in the horses diet is lengthy and includes calcium phosphorus magnesium selenium sulfur copper iron manganese iodine cobalt and zinc. Three mineralssodium potassium and chlorideare collectively known as electrolytes and play an important role in helping maintain the correct balance of water in the body. Electrolytes are lost from the body when the animal sweats which is why after strenuous exercise particularly in hot humid climates it is necessary to give a horse not just water but water with electrolytes so that they can recover more quickly.
Similar to vitamins deficiencies and excesses in minerals can cause various diseases in the horse. If your horse is healthy and receiving goodquality forage with a commercial feed its diet is most likely balanced for minerals. If your horse is doing poorly and you are unsure that the diet is balanced for nutrients work with a veterinarian and nutritionist to determine which mineral might be the issue and how to adjust the diet to resolve the problem.
Water
Water is often overlooked as a nutrient but it is the most important nutrient for an animal. About 6070 percent of the adult horses body weight is composed of water this water is found both