What is the dietary basis for our horses?

Meadows and pastures are the nutritional basis for our horses – either through direct consumption of grass or through hay, silage, haylage, or green meal pellets, and sometimes also through straw.

The composition of this so-called roughage is never consistent.

The composition of the plants changes throughout the year, influenced by season and weather, but also by the intensity of grazing, pasture care, fertilization, etc. The location also plays a significant role.

Different plants grow in a damp meadow by a stream than on dry grassland; different plants thrive in the pre-Alps than on the North German Plain.

All our horses have one thing in common: only a small selection of different plant species grows in their paddocks, runs, and pastures – the hay, silage/haylage, and green meal pellets contain few different grasses and herbs.

They cannot choose and are dependent on us humans to enhance their nutritional basis.

As humans, we bear the responsibility for which plants are available to our horses as a food source.