Nutrition to promote calm behaviour in your horse (without calming supplements)

Mar 6

Ever wondered how to promote calm behaviour in your horse without a calming supplement?

Behaviour and nutrition are so intertwined, and it's truly incredible the difference that nutrition and feeding strategies can have on the happiness of our equine friends. Want to keep the vibes calm and cool? Here are 6 nutritional strategies to support calm, focused behaviour in your horse (without calming supplements) 😌

Meet your horse’s fiber requirement by feeding at least 1.5% BW of a suitable forage.

The absolute MIN fiber/forage intake rate is 1.0% of your horse's bodyweight, but this should only be done under the supervision of a veterinary professional. For most horses, fiber requirements will be met by hay, but for horses who cannot safely handle hay due to dental failure, use of alternative fibers such as hay cubes/pellets, beet pulp, soy hulls, or complete feeds should be fed at a minimum of 1.0% BW.

Good forage management: Use slow-feed devices to promote mental stimulation, prolong forage intake, and support both stomach health & comfort. Provide multiple feeding stations outside so your horse is moving between feeding stations for movement & mental stimulation.

To slow consumption, use hay nets with openings that are < 2 inches, and make sure to allow an acclimation period to minimize stress and frustration as your horse adjusts. For horses who are on free-choice access, even larger holed hay (2.75 inch) nets can add an extra level of mental stimulation without slowing feed intake too much - great for those hard-keeper types where we want to maximize intake but keep their brains working!

Promote gut health by reducing non-structural carbohydrate content, and driving energy with fiber and fats instead.

Evaluate NSC & energy content of the diet. High NSC diets have been associated with increased reactivity, and increased hindgut health disturbances.

Supporting gut health will help promote microbiome balance, which can reduce reactive behaviour. Support gut health by minimizing starch content per meal (keep it below 2g/kg BW per meal), feed a suitable forage, and consider targeted digestive solutions such as probiotics/prebiotics/postbiotics - due to varied efficacy and viability of probiotics, and individual response to probiotics, opt for several supportive strategies, not just probiotics alone.

Ensure that your horse’s nutrient requirements are met, the diet is balanced, and your feeding plan is catered to your horse as an individual.

Nutrients perform best when they are balanced, and as since each nutrient plays an important role, imbalances or deficiencies may be contributing to undesirable behaviour.

Determine if your horse's requirements are being met by doing this easy, at-home assessment:

Is your horse only eating hay? If so, they are likely lacking important vitamins and minerals.
Is there a source of vitamins and minerals in your horse's diet? This might be a fortified feed (ie performance feed, senior feed), a ration balancer, or a concentrated vitamin/mineral supplement.
Check the label on that product - how much does it recommend you feed? Are you feeding that minimum feeding rate? If not, there are likely missing nutrients in your horse's diet.
Are you feeding multiple feeds or multiple supplements? Do these products contain similar ingredients and nutrients? Depending on how they are formulated, they may be contributing to imbalances.
Do you have a hay test? If so, you can use this to identify imbalances. Learn more about hay analysis on our blog, or download our E-Book and work through the workbook!