🥕 Vet-Recommended Equine Nutrition Tips | 2025 Guide to Balanced Feeding & Body Scoring 🐴

By Dr Duncan Houston, BVSc

Nutrition is the foundation of your horse’s health, performance, and long-term well-being. A good feeding program fuels muscle, strengthens immunity, supports healthy hooves, and maintains body condition. But with countless feed types, supplements, and fads out there, knowing what’s truly best can be confusing. 🧠🐎

In this 2025 guide, I’ll show you how to optimize your horse’s nutrition using proven veterinary techniques—including feed testing, body condition scoring, and muscle assessment. 🥕📊

🩺 Why Nutrition Should Be Part of Every Wellness Exam

Your horse’s biannual vet visits for vaccines should always include a **nutritional consultation**. During this appointment, your vet can:

• 📋 Review your current feeding plan
• 📏 Assign a Body Condition Score (BCS)
• 🧪 Recommend hay or grain testing if needed
• 📦 Evaluate supplements or mixed rations

If your vet isn’t automatically offering this, just ask—it’s one of the most valuable services during a routine check-up. 🩺🐴

🌾 When Feed Testing Is (and Isn’t) Necessary

If you’re feeding a **commercially formulated feed**, testing usually isn’t needed—it’s already been balanced by equine nutritionists. But if you use raw ingredients or mix rations yourself, testing becomes critical. ⚖️🧪

🧪 When You Should Test:

• 🌽 Feeding whole oats or field grains
• 🥣 Mixing your own concentrates or mash
• 🌿 Feeding hay from uncertain sources

🔍 How to Collect Feed Samples Properly:

• 🧴 Send a full sample of your feed mix *as fed* (including supplements)
• 🌱 Use a hay probe to gather hay core samples from several bales
• 📦 Label all samples clearly and keep them dry

This testing helps balance protein, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals, and fat—preventing over- or under-supplementation. 📊

📏 Body Condition Scoring (BCS): Your Horse’s Health Snapshot

The **Body Condition Score** is a 1–9 scale used to assess fat cover and overall condition. It’s easy to learn and incredibly helpful for tracking nutrition progress. 🧠🐎

🔢 Score Breakdown:

• 1️⃣ Emaciated – visible ribs, no fat or muscle
• 4️⃣ Thin – minimal fat over ribs, slightly sunken topline
• 5️⃣ Ideal – smooth, no prominent bones, good balance
• 7️⃣ Overweight – ribs hard to feel, visible fat pads
• 9️⃣ Obese – heavy fat deposits along neck, shoulders, and tailhead

Most horses should maintain a BCS of **5–6**. I assign a BCS to every horse I examine. It's a quick and powerful tool to monitor health. ✅📏

📱 Estimate Weight Without a Scale:

Use a soft tape to measure your horse’s:

• 🦒 Height at the withers
• ❤️ Heart girth circumference
• 📏 Length from shoulder to hip
• 🧠 Neck circumference (for obesity insight)

Plug these into the **Healthy Horse app** on your smartphone for accurate weight estimates. ⚖️📲

💪 Assessing Muscle Tone with the Topline Evaluation System

Fat isn’t the only thing that matters—**muscle tone** gives insight into fitness, nutrition, and conditioning. Use the Topline Evaluation System (TES) to assess three regions:

• 1️⃣ Withers to mid-back
• 2️⃣ Mid-back to croup
• 3️⃣ Hip to stifle

🧩 TES Grades:

• 🅰️ Grade A – Full, rounded, symmetrical muscle
• 🅱️ Grade B – Slight hollows or uneven areas
• 🅲️ Grade C – Loss of definition, flatter topline
• 🅳️ Grade D – Sunken, atrophied, weak muscle tone

When BCS and TES are used together, you get a complete picture of your horse’s body condition—essential for tailoring diet and training. 💪📊

❌ 2025’s Most Common Feeding Myths (Debunked!)

Don’t fall for fads or hearsay—here’s the truth behind today’s most common equine nutrition myths: 🧠⚠️

• ⚠️ Myth: “Processed feeds are poor quality”
  ✅ Fact: They are balanced and often safer than DIY mixes.
• ⚠️ Myth: “Natural is better”
  ✅ Fact: “Natural” doesn’t guarantee safety or balance.
• ⚠️ Myth: “Byproducts are fillers”
  ✅ Fact: Many offer high digestibility and nutritional value.
• ⚠️ Myth: “Concentrate feeds make horses hot”
  ✅ Fact: Depends on the type and energy source, not the feed itself.
• ⚠️ Myth: “All starch is bad”
  ✅ Fact: Only sensitive horses (e.g. IR or ulcers) require low-starch diets.

🥣 Group Feeding vs Individual Feeding

Are your horses fed together or separately? Group feeding creates competition—and that affects nutrition. 🐎🐎

👥 Risks of Group Feeding:

• 🐎 Dominant horses overeat
• 🥲 Submissive horses may not get enough
• 📊 Nutrition becomes inconsistent

Tip: Feed horses separately when possible. Monitor weight, condition, and uneaten feed daily. 📈🍽️

📲 Ask A Vet for Personalized Feeding Plans

The Ask A Vet app helps horse owners fine-tune feeding strategies with professional guidance. Use it to:

• 📸 Upload photos of hay, feed labels, or BCS
• 📊 Track weight and muscle condition over time
• 📱 Chat with a vet to build a tailored nutrition plan

Get the insights your horse needs—without guesswork. 🐴💬

✅ Quick Checklist: Equine Nutrition Essentials

• 📋 Include nutrition in every vet wellness exam
• 🧪 Test hay/grain if mixing feeds or feeding raw oats
• 📏 Use BCS and TES for full condition assessments
• 🛑 Avoid feeding myths—trust evidence and your vet
• 📲 Use Ask A Vet for support in feed selection and analysis

📲 Final Thoughts from Dr Duncan Houston

Feeding horses isn’t just about scooping grain—it’s about balance, observation, and science. With the right tools and support, you can confidently fuel your horse’s health from the inside out. 🧠🥕💪

Download the Ask A Vet app today and get help building a personalized feeding plan that supports your horse in 2025 and beyond. 🐎📱