Nutrients in detail
What does a gap or an oversupply mean?
Individual nutrients: their role in the ration, typical gaps, safety margins and the limits of what the figures can tell you.
Trace elements in horse feed: understanding manganese
Manganese as a starting point for trace element supply: check forage, reference requirements and supplements, with links to zinc, copper, selenium and iodine.
5 min readRead
Calcium, phosphorus and magnesium in horses
The three macrominerals from forage. What the GfE and NRC give as requirements, why an adequate grass hay ration usually covers them already, why the Ca:P ratio matters more than the individual value, and what is actually supported about the widely advertised magnesium supplement.
9 min readRead
Vitamin E in horses
The antioxidant from pasture grass. Why fresh grass is the real source and hay is almost empty after storage, how much the GfE and NRC recommend, what distinguishes natural from synthetic vitamin E and why, for this nutrient – unlike the macrominerals – work and winter really do count.
8 min readRead
Protein in horse feed: crude protein, lysine and excess
How crude protein, digestible protein and lysine are related, why more protein does not automatically mean more muscle, and how to check a suspected excess.
9 min readRead
Selenium in horses: requirement, analysis and safety window
The trace element with the narrowest safety window. How much the GfE and NRC recommend, why the content in forage varies between zero and plenty depending on the soil, how small the gap between requirement and legal limit is – and why selenium is only supplemented on the basis of a lab value, never on suspicion.
9 min readRead
Iodine in horses: needs, sources and safe supplementation
Selenium's twin – except that here both ends are dangerous. How much the GfE and NRC recommend (and why, for once, they disagree), why goitre can signal too little as well as too much iodine, why seaweed is the most common oversupply trap and why iodine is only supplemented on the basis of a lab value.
9 min readRead
Salt and electrolytes for horses
Salt is a year-round job; an electrolyte product is not. How the basic supply according to Coenen/Vervuert and additional sweat losses interact, and why a salt lick is an offer, not a dose.
9 min readRead
Zinc and copper in horses: requirement, hay and ratio
Two trace elements that are often short in forage – copper almost always. What the GfE and NRC give as requirements, how much hay realistically provides, why the ratio between the two is less mysterious than its reputation, and what you can expect for hooves and coat.
9 min readRead
Magnesium for horses: requirements, hay and what supplementing achieves
How much magnesium a horse needs per kg of body weight, how much of it is already in the hay, when supplementing achieves nothing and what the evidence says about the advertised calming effect.
7 min readRead
Biotin for horses: what the hoof studies really show
What studies on biotin and hoof horn actually measured, why any effect becomes visible after months at the earliest, and why protein, trace elements and hoof care belong in the picture.
7 min readRead
Sources
The content is based on the references listed below. It does not replace individual veterinary or feeding advice.
Show list of sources (2)
- GfE (2014) – Empfehlungen zur Energie- und Nährstoffversorgung von PferdenSpecialist reference in German-speaking countries (GfE, German Society of Nutrition Physiology), Committee for Requirement Standards
- NRC – Nutrient Requirements of Horses, 6th ed.International reference for the nutrient requirements of horses (National Research Council)