At EquiNatural, we believe in feeding horses the way nature intended. Our philosophy centers around recommending nutrient-dense, species-appropriate forage that supports every aspect of your horse's health, from gut function to immune resilience and vitality. This guide shares our recommended feeds designed to align with your horse's natural digestive needs, promoting optimal well-being, balance, and longevity.

"We have followed your advice on the feeding of our Irish Draft Frank with the Equivita and the Agrobs' chaff and Weisenflakes. What a difference to him, his skin is amazing and he gleams with health! The vet says he is so pleased with him. My very kindest regards and sincere thanks, Lynn C."

"Just changed my boys onto your recommended feeds, so far huge improvements in all departments including a traditional who for the first time has no mallanders behind his knee. And an itchy coat is now comfortable and no flaky skin. They love the food and I’m confident that everything they are eating is natural, no fillers or nasties in it.Thank you x Lynn G"

What's the 'Why' behind our equine feed recommendations?

Reminder: a horse is nothing more - and nothing less - than a hindgut grass-forage fibre-fermenter, fermented by the friendly hindgut gut biome colonies. And their favourite forage to ferment is a range of multi diverse-species of stemmy grasses (I grass leaf blades) where the equine gut-appropriate cellulose fibre sits.

Why?  Well, apart from this being how the equine gut has evolved over millenia, as in what a horse is designed to eat, it's all about one word - pre-biotics.

This is where it's at. Pre-biotics. Not pro-biotics, but pre-biotics. If you check on Wiki, you'll see the definition of pre-biotics being "compounds in food that induce the growth or activity of beneficial microorganisms. The most common example is in the gastrointestinal tract, where prebiotics can alter the composition of organisms in the gut microbiome."

Prebiotics are basically fibre. Soluble and insoluble fibre, indigestible fibre-rich carbohydrates which are available in plants and plant-based foods. And it's these prebiotic fibres that feed and nurture the friendly hindgut fibre-fermenting biome microbes, so they flourish and produce a range of vital byproducts that the body needs, i.e. the vital 'activated' forms of vitamin B6 (P5P) and B12, numerous amino acids, and three specific short-chain fatty acids that are crucial for creating your horse's main energy source, namely butyrate, acetate, and propionate.

So, prebiotics are really important - those specialised fibres inside grass/ hay stems feed those beneficial hindgut bacteria, so their colonies continue to thrive and do their vital job, producing a plentiful production of beneficial by-products. These are incredibly essential nutrients - metabolites/postbiotics - call them what you will, and absolutely essential for the innate metabolism to function optimally, which guarantees nutritional, metabolic, and immune health benefits.

This means that prebiotics are a Very Big Deal.

So why multi-grass species? Simple - for multi-prebiotic variety! Different grasses, as well as roots, leaves, barks etc., have different prebiotic fibres, just like our human salad bowl of different salad leaves, or a plate of varied veggies, have different prebiotic fibres to feed our own gut microbes. Prebiotic variety is absolutely key, as they each have their own special benefits, hence why it's best so dump the mono-species hay and always head for lovely mixed-species meadow hay.

Literally, by feeding the hindgut right, your horse's whole body will get the best out of it. We've got this all covered in more detail in a Blog post - Prebiotic foods for postbiotic abundance.

So lets get to it - how do I feed my own horses?

It probably won't come as any surprise that my personal preferred feedbowl feed is a completely natural, preferably organic-grown, multi-diverse grass forage-fibre diet, taking into account that my two remaining retirees also need feeds appropriate for equine gut health, EMS/IR weight management, and senior horse feed.

This leads me to either a meadow grass chaff or a cob/flake for an easy soak, and for the 'organic' stamp my preferred brand is Agrobs. I'm also very happy to report that Baileys - a brand I've previously steered clear from due to their use of bulk filler ingredients, have also recently produced a similar meadow cob to Agrobs'.

Note: Agrobs don't tend to be readily available in many feed merchants so I buy it online via EquiSupermarket -https://www.equisupermarket.co.uk/c/nutrition/horse-feed. Hopefully this link will take you to the alphabetical listing of all their Agrobs' stock, but if not, make sure you select the 'Order: By Name' option in the drop-down box just above the feeds. They usually deliver within 2-3 days but can sometimes take longer so allow extra time.

A more indepth Carol feed history

These days (winter 2024) our former herd of four is now down to the two remaining retirees - my 30yo connie, Murphy, and our 18yo unridden TB mare, Carmen. However, back when there were four, three were EMS natives so their feedbowl carrier was the Agrobs' Leitchgenus super-low sugar/starch. Into this went their mineral balancer (our EquiVita/VitaComplete, depending on the time of year) and their respective supplements. We happily ticked along like this for years.

Then cut to October 2022 and it was suddenly all change. With no warning we very sadly lost our Cookie after 16 wonderful years with her - her Cushing's finally called time on her. So there we were, with our two remaining EMS natives, Murf and MacAttack (the YO's 23yo semi-feral special-needs native that we took on in 2017 as a rehab), and Carms.

Losing Cookie kind of made me reassess everything. It suddenly hit home to me that we were now all older and retired together - where the flip had the time gone?! Plus a recent dental had shown Murf had lost a tooth, with a couple of loose ones, so I took stock and reassessed, being mindful of Murf's dentition needs. Clearly I needed a shorter fibre length nearer to what a horse naturally grinds down their forage to, to save his ancient teeth having to put in the hard work. As if to affirm, November also saw Carms drop a bit of winter condition for the first time. So, I upgraded Murf and Carms to Agrobs' Myo Protein Flakes for the higher protein content - see our Blog ExtraAutumn/Winter Protein for our Poor Doers. Mac meanwhile stayed on the Leitchgenus, as regardless, he was your typical fresh-air pony.

Come Spring 2023 and the grass growing again, and still being mindful of Murf's teeth, I swapped the Myo Protein to Agrobs' PreAlpin Senior chaff for both Murf and Carms for the summer.  By now we were also managing Mac as a KPU pony so he still very much needed the lowest sugar/carb feedbowl carrier I could find. Meanwhile, summer turned to winter, then we rang in the 2024 New Year, and here we are today.

I've since switched Murf and Carms' winter feed from the Myo Protein to Simple Systems' Sainfoin, after Carms had an unexpectedly high tape and redworm count last year. Sainfoin is naturally high in tannins which stabilise the gut where worms like to set up home. Studies with small ruminants - sheep and goats - also show that regularly feeding sainfoin significantly reduces worm infections. Plus, with its high protein content, sainfoin is ideal for horses that struggle to maintain weight over winter, so this keeps that box ticked for me as well.

As at today (Nov'24), here are our horses' feed regimen:

Non-negotiables ...

• Minerals - they permanently have hay in their diet so they get our VitaComplete mineral balancer.
• Salt - on hot humid days they get extra salt.

Herbal therapeutics ...

• During spring/summer/autumn, Murf and Mac religiously get MetaTonic with DuoBute (as a preventative gentle anti-inflammatory). They also both get Alcar to keep leptin resistance in check, plus it helps Murf enormously with his mobility.
• From early spring to late autumn Mac also gets our SwItchTonic to support his sweet itch, which is now significantly improved since managing him as a KPU candidate since Nov'21. This has done wonders to reset his detoxification function and significantly downgraded his sweet itch.
• Now to Carms. Born with an inward-twisting LF hoof and pastern (officially 2/10 lame although she'd beg to differ), she gets JSTTonic for her arthritic changes, JointReflexa for stiffness, DuoBute as a preventative anti-inflammatory, and Alcar to support her mobility. I also always keep a 500ml bottle of TriBute on the shelf for those days that she field hoons and gets a bit 3-legged for a few days, which is sadly more often than we'd like as having been beautifully bred for racing (but the twisted hoof put paid to that), she's a bit of a diva show-off!

The extras ...

Just my own personal choice:

• Every couple of months or so for 2-weeks-ish, they all get Spirulina, not only because it's super-nutritious but for its' excellent gut mycotoxin binding and deacidifying talents.
• During each spring/autumn coat change, they get a 1-month course of LKLCARE to tonify their detoxification organs - liver/kidneys/lymphatics, to manage the extra protein metabolism.
• They also occasionally get our WildFed prebiotic diversity blend, and VitaGreens nourishment every couple of months for a couple of weeks, just to add in some nutrient diversity. And if I'm feeling really nice, they might also get a sprinkle of WildVits Treat on their hay.

So there we have it - our feedbowl carrier recommendations. I'll end on a Top Tip I give to clients who come to us overwhelmed at the minefield that is the equine feed industry these days. Keep it really simple - all you want for that feedbowl is a simple grass forage fibre 'carrier' in which to add the supplements to balance your horse's diet. So - always check the ingredients list - if it's made from grass, feed it. If it's not - and especially if it's full of those unnecessary junk bulk fillers - don't!

Finally, if you're wondering why I said we're down to our two retirees, Murf and Carms, yet I'm still mentioning Mac, we moved yards back in early spring 2023 after six very happy years on top of the Mendip Hills. As Mac was now beautifully rehabbed to perfect health, we handed him back to the YO while continuing to provide his maintenance supplements. Meanwhile, he always had a bit of a bromance with the farm's groundsman, so when we left we handed him Mac's leadrope with a big instruction list. A year on they remain the best of buddies, with Mac following him around like a puppy all over the farm's 40-acres. I think we'd call that a perfect match made in heaven - they're the best of buddies, plus he stayed in the home he's known for years. so what's not to love?!

Need more guidance on feeding your horse?

Explore our Advice Centre on the main navigation bar for top tips on how to support your horse’s health naturally.

PS -  a human prebiotic guide

If you're looking to get a bit more prebiotic magic into your own diet to reset your gut, remember - it's about diversity. I mean, you wouldn't want to eat kale all day, would you?

Here's a human prebiotic-rich daily meal plan suggestion:

• Maybe start your day with a serving of porridge oats with chopped banana, a sprinkle of flaxseed and wheat bran.
• Come lunch, a bowl of pasta with garlic and onions in the sauce, some high-fibre pulses (kidney beans/chickpeas etc), and maybe a side of asparagus.
• Dinner, and 2/3 of your plate should be a range of colourful veggies (eat that rainbow, remember!) with your protein of choice.
• Best of all - a mug of hot chocolate before bed for the cacao - another amazing prebiotic. Easy on the sugar tho.
• That's not to say a mixed side-salad somewhere in your day, with a few dandelion greens and a bit of sliced chicory wouldn't be a bad thing either, with a simple dressing of extra-virgin olive oil and ACV with the mother of course.

Enjoy!