Each horse is an individual and in an ideal situation, the feeding program for each horse should be developed to meet the individual's needs. This is not practical on most farms, from a time and money stand point, and so the best alternative is a phase feeding program that meets your horse's needs at each stage of his life. Front Runner has developed a phase feeding program based on the horse's requirements at any given age and level of work. You, as the owner, need to evaluate your horse's needs and choose the phase best suited for your horse.  

The Pleasure Horse
Performance Horses
Broodmares
Growing horses
Nursing foals
Feeding Weanlings 4-5 months and Yearlings
Stallions
Senior horses

The Pleasure Horse

Suppose your horse is standing happily in his pasture looking very healthy and happy.  All of his nutritional needs are being met. But what happens when you start to work him a little more? Those trail rides and lessons require an energy expenditure on your horse's part and just as we wouldn't ask you to ride without having a good breakfast; we need to make sure your horses get enough nutrients to enable them to work efficiently. A good feeding program for pleasure horses is to feed the amount of forage needed for maintenance and then to feed as much grain or formulated ration as needed to provide energy for work. You could try to meet the increased energy needs by feeding forage but it would be very difficult for the horse to consume enough to meet its nutritional needs. The amount of feed fed should be adjusted on an individual basis so that the horse maintains optimum body weight. If your horse is too thin he won't have enough body fat to use as a reserve source of energy. He will tire more easily and will have a hard time keeping warm in the winter; couple that with the layer of fat under his skin decreasing heat loss, and your horse could experience decreased performance ability and increased heart and respiratory problems.

In an attempt to increase the energy content of your horse's diet it is extremely important to keep the correct balance of grain to forage. Feed the grain in 2-3 small meals per day. Too much grain will not only give your horse excess energy and make him hard to handle it can also cause colic and laminitis and other severe health problems described in more detail later. You also need to ensure the amount of forage consumed is never less than 1.0–1.5% of body weight per day and it is recommended that forage makes up one-half of the total weight of the diet eaten. To keep your pleasure horse healthy you need to feed him enough forage to meet his maintenance requirements and enough grain to meet the extra energy expenditures. Front Runner Phase Four 10% Pleasure is a good way to add the extra nutrients to your horse's diet and is appropriate for mature pleasure horses, open and early pregnant mares. It will provide the proper protein, vitamins and minerals without unneeded energy. 

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Performance Horses

If you take the light work one step further and classify your horse as a performance horse, then his requirements increase. These horses need larger quantities of energy to perform to the best of their ability therefore they must be fed a greater amount of feed.

For performance horses the nutrients of greatest concern are water, body salts and electrolytes, and the nutrients needed for energy. A horse can lose basically all of its body fat and half of its body protein and still survive, but a loss of only 15% of body water is fatal. When a horse works 75-80% of the energy used in the body is given off as heat. This heat is dissipated throughout evaporative cooling of sweat on the skin and the respiratory tract. While sweating helps to cool the horse, it results in the loss of water, sodium, chloride, potassium, and small amounts of calciumand magnesium. Preventing these losses through the use of electrolytes and by ensuring the horse drinks enough water will help prevent serious conditions such as alkalosis and exhaustion, which result from dehydration.

Feeding the performance horse requires nutrients that are going to increase the energy density of the diet. By this I mean the nutrients needed are those that will provide the most energy in the most compact package. The nutrients that will do this are those that increase fat, protein and starch and decrease fiber. This is accomplished by feeding a relatively high grain, low forage diet; although forage should still make up one half of the weight of the diet eaten.

Front Runner Phase Three Performance is a specially formulated feed designed to meet the energy, protein vitamin and mineral demands placed on the performance horse. The energy sources in the feed meet the requirements for anaerobic and aerobic activity, which makes it suitable for all categories of performance.

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Broodmares

If you are breeding your mare, then you have probably read as much as possible and are quite knowledgeable on how to keep your mare healthy for the next 11 months. It may come as a surprise to you to know that mares that are not pregnant and those in early gestationhave only maintenance nutrient requirements. It is not until the last 3 months of gestation and during lactation that a mare's nutritional needs progressively increase (10-20% during last trimester and 80% during lactation). This increase in nutrient demands is due to the rapid growth of the fetus during the last 90 days of gestation (about 60 % of weight of fetus is added at this time about a pound a day!).

The mare must take in enough nutrients to meet her maintenance needs plus the growth of the foal. For a mare to maintain body condition during pregnancy, her weight must increase by an amount equal to the foal's birth weight plus the weight of the placenta and fluids. This gain usually equals 9–12% of the mare's pre-pregnancy weight. The amount of feed needed to support this gain varies with differing climates, increased work or exercise and higher milk production. Mares should be moderately fleshy but not fat at foaling and should maintain this weight until weaning. A thin mare at foaling may have a decrease milk production and therefore foal growth.

Lactating or last trimester pregnant mares that are eating mature grass pasture or hay or unfortified grain and not a complete ration may need to be provided with supplemental calcium, phosphorous, protein, and dietary energy. If analysis of the forage shows that it has enough energy but not enough protein Front Runner 10% or 30% Supplement can be added to provide the correct  supplemental protein, minerals and vitamins. If the forage does not containenough energy or protein a complete ration such as Front Runner Phase Two 14% Mare and Yearling can be fed with free choice forage.

During first 3 months of lactation typical light horse mare will produce about 3% of the mares body weight in milk per day. This production will drop to about 2% during the remainder of lactation. The mare must therefore be supplied with the nutrients needed for maintenance and the nutrients for milk production. If these requirements are not met the mare will loose body condition and have decreased milk production. 

Front Runner Phase Two 14% Mare and Yearling has been formulated to meet the nutritional needs of pregnant and lactating mares. Phase Two ensures correct nutrients are available for the development of the fetus and milk production while maintaining the mares own body condition at the optimum level. 

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Growing horses

Nutrient requirements for a growing foal are directly related to the animal's growth rate. The requirements for growth equal the sum of the foal's maintenance requirements plus the nutrients needed for the deposition of new body tissue. The goal when feeding growing horses is to maintain an even growth rate and prevent sudden growth spurts, which place extra stress on young joints and bones.

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Nursing foals

The milk produced by a well-fed mare is sufficient to meet all of the foal's nutritional needs for the first 2 months of life and all the mineral needs for the first four months. Most foals will nibble in mare's grain and forage within a few days of birth. This is an imitation behavior as opposed to a nutritional need.

After two months of age the amount of milk produced by the mare can not meet the foals nutritional requirements. When the foal is 1–2 months of age a specially formulated foal mix such as Front Runner Phase One 16% Foal can be introduced as a creep feed. Creep Feeding is useful not only for meeting nutritional needs but also for getting the foal accustom to  eating solid feed in  preparation for weaning.

By 5 months of age, an unweaned foal will spend 50% of its time eating. The amount of creep feed consumed is related to the amount of milk consumed. The more creep the foal eats the less it will nurse and visa versa. If the foal does not eat adequate amounts of solid feed before weaning a compensatory growth spurt occurs once intake is increased after weaning. This growth spurt increases the risk and the severity of Developmental Disease (DOD) a condition defined by abnormal bone formation and growth. The amount of grain being consumed by the foal should not be restricted until foals are consuming about 2kg/day or 5lbs. (at about 4 months) then the amount should be limited so that the growth rate does not become too rapid and risk of DOD is reduced.

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Feeding Weanlings 4-5 months and Yearlings

At the weanling and yearling stages of development, hay quality is very important. High quality legume-grass mixed hay is ideal although top quality grass hay that is properly supplemented will supply similar nutrients.

80% of bone development occurs w/in the first year therefore Phosphorous and Calcium levels are critical. Deficiencies in calcium and phosphorus can lead to incidences of developmental bone disease. Calcium and Phosphorus must be supplies to meet the minimum requirements and be in proper ratio—the younger the foal, the more critical the ratio of calcium to phosphorus. Muscle development also occurs at rapid rate in young foals. This development continues at a reducing rate until about 5 years of age, at which time the animal has reached mature size. Because of this  deposition, energy and protein are of great concern in growing horses.

Front Runner Phase One 16% Foal is specially formulated to insure proper Ca and P ratio and to supply high quality protein for growth and development. Front Runner Phase One 16% Foal is suitable for horses up to one year of age and should be fed with at least 1.5% of body weight as good quality forage. 

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Stallions

Often little thought is given to the proper feeding of stallions. This could account for conception rates of mares actually bred sometime being less than 50%. Stallions should be maintained on a 12% protein diet because the nutritional quality of the ration greatly influences sperm production and quality. Front Runner Phase Three 12% Performance is an ideal feed for stallions. The high quality protein sources and digestible fiber provide the breeding stallion with the nutrients needed to maintain his condition and meet the demands of reproduction.  

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Senior horses

It is hard to define what an old horse is. We all know 18 year olds who still act as if they are 3 and many horses compete well into their twenties. If you use the American Quarter Horse Associations definition, an aged horse is anything over sixteen years old.

The most common complaint with older horses is the problem of maintaining body condition. This loss of condition is partly due to the older horses declining ability to digest fiber, protein and absorb phosphorus. When feeding an older horse you would want to provide extra protein (above 12%) and phosphorus (a minimum of .35%). Good quality young green forage would be more readily digestible than forage that is extremely mature when it is harvested and yeast cultures  are added.

One of the most important considerations with an older horse is general health. It is easy to assume that an older horse losing weight just needs more feed but since they are more likely to have liver and kidney disease it is important to have a veterinarian rule out any serious illness. The vet should also do a routine check of your horse's teeth. Horses do lose their teeth as they age and it is important to take care of the ones they have left. A horse that has lost a number of teeth will drop partly chewed wads of hay out of his mouth. This is called quidding and can be prevented by feeding hay cubes or   pellets. If your horse has trouble chewing the cubes you can soak them in water, an especially nice treat in the winter if you use warm water.

Front Runner Phase Five 13% Senior is formulated to meet the needs of your senior horse. The pellets have 13% protein and contain beet pulp  as a source of fiber, so when fed at recommended levels no hay is needed. The pellets also contain yeast culture to increase overall digestibility, absorption and utilization of minerals and fiber.

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