General

Goal:
To provide at least 20-25% of total daily calories from fat and to provide no more than 15% of total daily calories from starch and sugar.

Forage:
Grass, timothy or alfalfa hay can be fed.  Grain hays such as oat and barley hay should be avoided.   Horse should be fed at least 1%  of their body weight  in forage per day.

Vitamin/Mineral Supplements:
Addition of a daily vitamin and mineral supplement is recommended for hard working horses, breeding horses and growing horses that may not receive consistently good quality hay.

  • Vitamin E should be supplemented to horses receiving oil in their diets. At least 1 IU/lb of horse is important  for horses not on pasture or receiving alfalfa products (ex.  1000IU Vit E for 1000lb horse).
  • Selenium should be supplemented at 1-2 mg selenium per 1000lb of horse per day in areas that are selenium deficient.
  • Other supplements such as hoof supplements and joint supplements are not a problem and can be continued.

Fat:
EPSM horses should be fed at least 1lb fat per 1000lbs horse per day.
Recommend to start with small amounts such as ¼ cup of oil per feeding and increase by ¼ cup  every few days until  feeding 2-3 cups per day.

Vegetable oil in the form of corn, soy, canola or coconut oil can be used.  Cocosoya and wheat germ oil can be used as well, but are more expensive.

Do not use flax seed or  linseed oil.

As a general rule:   2 cups oil= 1 pt= 1lb

Treats:
Carrots and apples in moderation.  Kellogg’s cracklin’ oat bran.

Specific Diets

Low Starch, Low sugar feeds: look for feeds with no more than 33% starch and sugar

  • Hay pellets
  • Alfalfa pellets
  • Alfalfa cubes (soaked in water with oil)
  • Low molasses content beet pulp (soaked in water)
  • Dengie  or chaff products
  • Chopped hay products
  • Complete feeds

Complete feed brands:
Purina Strategy, Nutrena Complete, Blue Seal Hunter, Demand, Vintage Gold; Senior feeds

Higher Fat feeds:
To be fed to EPSM horses as a supplement or alone with good quality forage and a daily vitamin and mineral supplement

  • Brands: Kent Feed Omegatin (20%), Nutrena Empower(22%), Moorglo(15%), Rice bran, powdered(20%),  Buckeye Ultimate Finish(25%), Re-Leve (10%)

To calculate the amount of fat fed per day multiply the number of pounds fed x the percentage of fat to find out  if you’re meeting the minimum requirements.

Ex.  3 lbs of buckeye Ult. Fin.  X  0.25 = 0.75 lbs

100% Fat supplements:
Any vegetable oils, as well as vegetable oil products such as Performance Pak 100 and Energy Pak 100 by Milk Specialties (800-323-5424×1156)  can be used to supplement fat  in an EPSM diet.