I was recently met with a situation where a high end stable was changing their feed supplier and a few of the boarders were concerned about this change. The main reason being - the pellet size.
They were convinced that they had lost a horse due to it being fed a small sized pellet. It had impacted, coliced and died. The new feed supplier only made their pellets in a 1/4″ size, which was much smaller than the chunk they were feeding as a “preventative”.
So, what logic does their theory have behind it? Very little infact.
First, we need to ask ourselves - if a small pellet causes horses to impact and colic, why would any feed company make small pellets? In actual fact, all companies that make horse feed produce it in a small pellet as well as any other size pellets.
Secondly, lets do a little experiment. If we take the exact same volume of chunks and small pellets, soak them in the exact same amount of water at the exact same temperature, they both expand to the exact same amount of product in the end. So, if this experiment was to take place in the horses digestive system, both sizes of pellets would have the exact same result. Neither more likely to impact a horse than the next.
So, why are pellets and chunks both made?
The main concern would be with horses that gobble their food. If a horse eats as quickly and as much as possible, it poses a risk for choking. The larger size chunk was made to promote chewing and prevent aggressive eaters from gobbling their food.
However, many small pellet manufacturers have taken this into consideration, and made changes to the small pellet to help prevent choking. Spraying a coating of oil on the outside of the pellet (100% vegetable oil that is) can aid in the movement of the pellet down the throat and therefore prevent choking.
So really, the size of pellet is dependant on your horses preferance and your preferance. Under proper management conditions - fed with lots of free choice water, neither should be more “dangerous” to feed than the next. If you are concerned about comparing pellet quality, the feed manufacturer should have an ingredient list readily available for you to look at.
If you have any more indept questions on this topic, feel free to contact me at balancequine@live.com
Tags: Feeding your horse the right pellet, How do different horse feed pellets measure up?
