May 18, 2003

Cafeteria Nutrition

A dairy farmer cooperative expanded its product line a number of years ago. It added a line of minerals for dairy cows. Someone convinced them that if a cow needed a mineral, it would crave it so they developed a collection of twelve different minerals. Feeders were attached to the fence in an outside feedlot. There was no doubt that the animals had easy access to the various minerals.

I remember one farm in particular. A diet, high in calcium, was being fed but the cows took a liking to the calcium carbonate mineral. The cows really needed mono ammonium phosphate to balance their calcium phosphorus ratio. Mono ammonium phosphate by its name was not very tasty. This farmer is no longer in business.

When I told this story to dairy farmers, I indicated that I wanted cows to eat and milk and not think. The solution was to mix the proper amounts of ingredients in the feed offered to the animals.

The biggest problem in this program for veterinarians was that the mistake developed over a long period of time. Many times the damages were permanent and affected animals could not be corrected.

I believe that the same is true of horses. I do believe the most common exception to this example is salt. I am a strong believer that animals can regulate their salt intake and should be offered free choice salt in the granular form for horses.

There was a wonderful lady that stopped at our booth at Horse Expo. She wanted the best for her horse so she put out two kinds of grass hay, one alfalfa hay, a name brand sweet feed and a mineral vitamin mix. She assumed that the horse would eat what was best.

I tell these stories because of visitors to my booth at Horse Expo. This was the best Expo I have attended. I was very pleased to see the number and quality of feed venders attending this Expo. I believe that many feed businesses have accepted that the beef and hog business is dead to them and are now going to give full attention to the horse owner. The amount of attention to horse feed will increase significantly in the next 3-5 years to the benefit of our horses.

As these companies develop their new and improved programs keep in mind there will be good and bad ideas tried. It is fair for horse owners to ask tough questions.

Remember that I have never met a horse that had any formal training in nutrition. The idea that horses can choose a balanced diet is not true. If there was some truth to this cafeteria nutrition, keep in mind we are now confining our horses to barns and paddocks and our horses are relying on the owners to offer the right mixtures. If the owners pick the wrong products, the horse does not have the choice to go elsewhere for the right mixture.

Minerals and vitamins were a big part of the questions I was asked about at Horse Expo. The first place I would check for these types of problems would be the horse's feet. These problems are slow to evolve and difficult to detect before it is too late. Look for good proven programs when you choose what is best for your horse.

We are now into the graduation season and we have a lot of respect for education. My son recently graduated from the University of Minnesota. As I sat in the audience listening to the commencement speakers, I wondered how many of those professors used education in determining the nutritional needs of their horses? Would they rely on cafeteria nutrition for their horse? Or would they use a scientifically balanced diet for their horses nutritional needs?