Why Feeding a Horse Twice a Day is Bad for the Horse - Mares Run Herds- Rick Gore Horsemanship

1 year ago
Team Xplore's picture


Here is talk about the horse's digestive system and why I feed horses even if they are in pasture. I talk about when horses have a choice about what to eat, they normally do NOT eat bad food. However, when a horse is locked in a stall and is unnaturally staved all day and only thrown a flake a hay once or twice a day, their hunger over rides the instinct to NOT eat bad food, so they eat mold or mice or dead birds in the hay and that is one reasons horses colic - lots of other reason like lack of clean water, not being able to graze and eat all day like they are designed to do, feeding only dry tightly pack hay so they eat clumps and do not chew slowly and let their system work the way it is designed to work.

FACT: A horse's stomach does NOT stretch like a human stomach, so when a horse eats FAST and fills the stomach very quickly, the stomach forces undigested food into the system before it is ready, another issue that contributes to colic. When a horse is starved and not feed all day, the intestines empty, NOT GOOD, so now all the twist and turns collapse and kink which can cause blockage or impaction colic.

Loving a horse and keeping them locked up so they are safe and clean and easy to catch or because people say that is the only way they can keep them is what kills them and is why colic is so common because of the way horses are kept and fed. The same reason Foal rejection is so common nowadays.

Mares don't run herd - Stallions or high geldings run herds. People who say Mares run herds are believing the old wives tales and urban legends.

This is pretty good video that shows how a horse's digestive system works and why feeding once a twice a day is bad and not healthy for the horse.

Add comment

Log in to post comments