Ready-Made Mash is a Tasty Treat

Horses competing at the recent World Equestrian Games in Lexington, Kentucky had a variety of feeds available to them courtesy of Kentucky Equine Research. One frequently requested product was a ready-mixed dry mash that is a popular meal for European horses but is virtually unheard of in the United States. This pre-mixed mash is distant kin to a bran mash in that it is made by mixing grain products with hot water, allowing the mixture to cool, and offering it to the horse as a tasty, warm, easily-digested treat after hard work.

These mixes may include ingredients such as crushed oats, corn, wheat bran, popped wheat and corn, linseed flakes, soy oil, molasses, vitamins, and minerals. The dry mix is typically stirred together in a one-to-two ratio with warm water prior to feeding. Depending on the amount fed, this could be used as a complete meal or as a gruel to blend into another ration.

Though cynics claim the only benefit of a warm mash is to make the owner feel good, mashes such as these or the traditional bran mash can be useful in getting tired horses to eat, getting more calories into thin horses, and increasing water intake.