Two or three times a week, we feed mashes to all the horses (and mules and ponies!). Soaked with copious water, a mash can make the difference between good gut health and mild impaction – especially during weather changes when the horses might not drink enough water. Mashes are a brilliant way to add supplements, salts and, for us, the linseed meal that adds Omega 3’s and pulls sand out of their bellies. We live in the high desert; sand is a fact of life.
We use wheat bran for our base. It absorbs lots of water (cold in summer, warm in winter), provides needed phosphorus (we’re in a high calcium area and also feed supplemental alfalfa which is high in calcium), and horses love the taste of it.
The calcium to phosphorus ratio in an equine diet should be 1.5:1 to 2.5:1. Some people use phosphorus supplements for balance and some of these can even contain bone meal. Horses are herbivores and we feel that the wheat bran is a better source! The bran, combined with linseed meal (about a 4 to 1 ratio) makes a “mud” that keeps gut motility and pulls out ingested sand.
We have fed these mashes for decades, to all manner of equines, always with great benefit to their health. Mixing them is a kind of Alchemy (very satisfying!). Adding mineralized salts, probiotics, black oil sunflower seeds and our custom mixed herbal supplement means we offer a pan of good health and deliciousness without feeding composite feeds or grain, all of which are not natural to a horse’s innate needs.
We mix our herbal supplement (always with magnesium, Vitamin E, Vitamin B2 Riboflavin, fenugreek seed powder, anise seed powder, turmeric powder, red beet root powder, rose hip powder, kelp powder, burdock root powder and slippery elm bark powder); adding seasonal herbs to the mix for summer and winter.
Individual horses get herbs (uva ursi for renal system, cleavers for the gray horses and Appaloosas, etc.) and nutraceuticals for their specific needs. It really is the best way for us to maintain their health!
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