Transcript:

[0:00]

Wondering if your horse’s diet is meeting their needs? Mad Barn’s Nutrition Calculator is a free, simple tool anyone can use to analyze a horse’s diet. Hi, I’m Dr. Parisa Darani, and I’m here to show you how to use this tool for your horse. While the Nutrition Calculator isn’t as in-depth as working with one of our equine nutritionists, it’s a quick way to check if your horse’s diet meets NRC nutrient requirements. First, enter your horse’s current body weight in kilograms or pounds. Click the toggle to choose metric or imperial units, then add your horse’s date of birth.

[0:47]

From the drop-down, select the category that best describes your horse’s current physiological status (e.g., in an exercise program, pregnant, or lactating). Depending on the selection, you may need to provide additional information such as exercise level, months of gestation, or month of lactation. If your horse is younger than 5 years old, physiological status will automatically be set to Growing. If you aren’t sure of a growing horse’s current body weight, you can enter estimated mature body weight. For this example, we’ll use a mature 450 kg (1,000 lb) horse at maintenance (not exercising).

Next, enter the forage your horse is getting. If they are outside and consuming pasture grass, enter the number of hours of turnout per day. If they also receive hay, select grass hay or alfalfa, then indicate whether hay is free-choice or rationed. If rationed, enter the amount of hay fed per day in kilograms, pounds, or flakes (assuming small-bale flakes).

[2:20]

You’ll also be asked for the location where your forage is grown to provide a more accurate estimate of nutrient composition. You can provide a city, state/province, or ZIP code to look up your location.

[2:27]

Next, enter any additional feeds, concentrates, or supplements your horse is getting. You can search by brand name or product, or search for ingredients like beet pulp. In this sample diet, I’m going to feed Mad Barn’s Omneity Pellets. The feeding rate will automatically populate after selecting the feed. I’m also going to feed salt to make sure my horse’s sodium requirements are met.

[3:00]

Once you’ve entered your horse’s full feeding program, their personalized report is calculated. In the first column, you’ll see essential nutrients in the equine diet, followed by daily required intake based on NRC values. The next column shows your horse’s actual daily intake of each nutrient based on the feeds entered above. The final column shows whether the diet is meeting requirements; values under 100% indicate the nutrient is undersupplied.

To get a more precise look at your horse’s diet, we recommend submitting a hay analysis — click the link to order your hay analysis and you’ll receive one-on-one help from our nutritionists to formulate a balanced diet. For additional guidance, you can book a phone consult to speak directly with our nutritionists or veterinarians. Thank you for watching — we’re always here to help. Please reach out if you have any questions about your horse’s feeding program.