Grain-Free Feeds for Horses
- November 19, 2018
- Posted by Clair Thunes, PhD

Q.I have an ulcer-prone mare that I’ve always fed a forage-first diet with a vitamin supplement mixed with hay pellets. When I’ve fed concentrates in the past, she’s developed gastric ulcers. Now I’ve started training her for endurance and feel she needs more calories for this higher-intensity work. I’m curious about grain-free feeds for horses. What does grain-free mean? Does it mean low-starch? If they aren’t providing calories from grains, where is the energy coming from?
—Via e-mail
A.The Association of American Feed Control Officials defines grain as seed from cereal plants. For example, oats, barley, corn, and wheat—in their intact forms—would be classified as grains as they are all seeds from the respective plants. Wheat middlings, however, would not be classified as a grain as it is not the whole seed. Rather, “middlings” is specifically a term used to describe “a by-product of flour milling comprising several grades of granular particles containing different proportions of endosperm, bran, (and) germ, each of which contains different levels of crude
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Written by:
Clair Thunes, PhD
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One Response
I have a coming 3 yo Hanoverian filly who has had chronic gastric ulcer disease (pyloric and squamous) since she was weaned. She is on a grain- free diet consisting of alfalfa pellets, chopped alfalfa forage, free choice hay, and a vitamin/mineral supplement. She has 24/7 turnout in a large pasture, a water trough, and a salt block available at all times. She will begin training sometime this year at a large facility where she was born. Her turnout will significantly decrease while there.
My question is how will I need to adjust her feed and supplements to support the increase in exercise and stress levels to lower the risk of exacerbation of the ulcers and mild colic symptoms?