Fortified Feed, Ration Balancer, or Vitamin and Mineral Supplement for Horses: Which Do I Choose?

When it comes to balanced nutrition for horses, there is more than one way to achieve proper energy, protein, vitamin, and mineral intake. First and foremost, it is important to consider the horse’s individual needs, including age, activity level, health status, body condition, and the availability and type of forage. Forage should be considered the foundation of all horse diets, so its importance should not be undervalued. In addition to forage, most horses require a feed or supplement to properly balance the diet.

Here’s a quick look at three different products and the nutrients they typically supply.

• Fortified feeds provide appropriate energy, protein, vitamins, and minerals when fed according to the manufacturer’s recommendations. They offer energy to support certain life stages (late pregnancy, lactation) and optimal athletic performance when the energy in the forage does not. The energy in fortified feeds may come from one or more of these energy sources: starch, fat, and fiber.
• Ration balancers are low-calorie options for delivering protein, vitamins, and minerals to horses that do not consume fortified feed and do not need extra calories. Ration balancers are useful for many classes of horses that can sustain their weight on just forage.
• Vitamin and mineral supplements are similar to ration balancers, but they do not typically contain protein, so they are appropriate for mature horses and ponies that satisfy their protein requirements by consuming only forage.

When it comes to selecting how best to nourish your horse, Catherine Whitehouse, M.S., a nutrition advisor with Kentucky Equine Research, said, “It is important to look at the horse’s overall diet and to identify any nutritional gaps. If the horse is underweight, a fortified feed may be necessary to improve condition and support performance. On the other hand, a horse that maintains weight easily may simply need a balancer, like All-Phase, or a high-quality vitamin and mineral supplement.”

Let’s look at these three products more closely.

Fortified feed. Fortified feeds, sometimes referred to as “concentrates” or “concentrate feeds,” are provided to horses that require calories beyond what forage can supply to support certain life stages or exercise. Typically, horses receiving fortified feed have difficulty maintaining weight or body condition on the available forage alone. High-level athletes, such as racehorses or elite eventers, usually need significant amounts of fortified feed to fuel heavy work. Other horses may also need fortified feed. Horses that do not have access to good-quality forage or that are harder to keep weight on often benefit from the extra energy provided by fortified feeds. Fortified feeds provide energy, vitamins, and minerals and have a moderate feeding rate, typically 5-10 lb (2.3-4.5 kg) daily.

Example. Although feeding instructions vary, a fortified feed is typically fed at a rate of 0.5 lb (0.2 kg) for every 100 lb. (45 kg) of body weight. For a 1,100-lb (500-kg) horse, that would equate to about 5.5 lb (2.5 kg) of fortified feed per day. The amount of feed may need to be adjusted up or down based on activity level, individual needs, and manufacturer recommendations. If a horse is being fed a feed at a rate lower than what the manufacturer recommends, the horse may be missing nutrients and an appropriate amount of a ration balancer or vitamin and mineral supplement should be fed to balance the diet.

Ration balancer. Horses that tend to be easy keepers typically do not need fully fortified textured or pelleted feed and should consume a ration balancer. Ration balancers, such as All-Phase, contain concentrated amounts of protein, vitamins, and minerals; have a low feeding rate; and do not contain excess calories. Nutrients that are missing or insufficient in the forage source are provided by the ration balancer.

Example. For a 1,100-lb (500-kg) horse that consumes a forage-only diet of approximately 22 lb (10 kg) of moderate- to good-quality grass forage, 1-2 lb (0.5-0.9 kg) of All-Phase per day would be necessary to fulfill nutrient needs. If that same horse consumes a fortified feed, but less than the manufacturer recommends, a balancer should be provided at a lower feeding rate to make up the gap in nutrients that occurs when feeding a concentrate below recommendation. Some sample diets can be found here.

Vitamin and mineral supplements. Though similar, vitamin and mineral supplements are not the same as ration balancers. They typically do not contain protein, but they may be suitable for horses that consume legumes, such as alfalfa, as the primary forage source. Legumes tend to have a higher protein content compared to grass forages (timothy, orchardgrass, teff). A high-quality vitamin and mineral supplement will complement an unfortified grain diet (e.g., straight oats) or a meal fed below the manufacturer’s recommended feeding rate.

Example. In one of the previous examples, the 1,100-lb (500-kg) horse required about 5.5 lb (2.5 kg) of fortified feed per day to meet energy, vitamin, and mineral needs. If this provides too many calories, the horse may be given 3 lb (1.4 kg) of feed with additional nutrient needs met by a vitamin and mineral supplement. Protein needs would have been met through the forage and the fortified feeds.

Please note that these are general guidelines, and each horse’s diet should be tailored to the individual. Consultation with an equine nutritionist can help ease concerns about providing adequate nutrition for your horse.