The "perfect" horse diet

Always try to use the total amounts of nutrients when you create a new feed or are changing the nutrient concentrations in a particular feed. Observe the information on the bag closely. You may find that the bag lists only what is added of a specific nutrient, instead of the total amount (in feed ingredients + added). For some nutrients over-supply may be a consequence.

Use the speed buttons on the ”horse diary” page to enter the latest information on the ration and other horse parameters.

In the Consultant version you can save horses, stables and feed lists on a drive that you select yourself. This can be a common server where several users can access the horses (teachers, students, consultants etc).

PC-Horse graphics give you a rapid analysis of the contribution of each feed to the total provision of every nutrient in the ration.

PC-Horse will warn you and provide suggestions when your ration is deficient of too high in one or more nutrients. Tolerance levels are already built into the program.

You may provide feed prices both at the horse level (i.e. if you have different feed prices for different horses) or identical prices for all horses in the stable.

In the Consultant version you may select the nutrients which will be shown on the screen or included in the written reports.

In the grazing season PC-Horse adjusts the estimated intake of pasture based on the quality of the pasture and on the time spent grazing.

PC-Horse will calculate feed requirements for each stable (per day, week and month) to help in your procurement of feeds.

Are one or more of the nutrients in a roughage feed missing? Use the “Template feed” function when you define your own roughages. PC-Horse will automatically provide average values for nutrients where analyses are missing.

All previous reports issued on a horse or a stable can easily be retrieved in the stables archive

Use the training page in PC-Horse to learn how to estimate the training intensity that corresponds to a level of feeding you wish to keep to or, alternatively, to estimate the right level of feeding for a training intensity you wish to aim for.

newborn Use the calendar function to enter (and remember) dates for mating and parturition. You may also enter the date when your lactating mare was re-bred.

If you have a young growing horse that is either too thin or too well-fed (fat), you can easily adjust the amounts of feed you have to give it through the body weight or condition sliders in PC-Horse.

Are you nervous about trying a new feed brand? With one or two clicks PC-Horse allows you to compare nutrient contents among a set of feeds.

A useful tip if you are interested in planning feeding costs is to make several feed lists with different feed prices for different purposes (i.e. on a per bag or wholesale basis etc).

Enter a tick in the tick-box to show that your horse is more than usually active. PC-Horse will then increase the requirement for energy by 10%

00-17 feedbag

By creating your own customised feed lists, you will greatly simplify your work with feeds. Include the roughages and commercial feeds contained in your own feed list together with roughages and commercial feeds where you have obtained nutrient analyses from your own supplier.

You should monitor the weight of your young growing horse carefully, and compare with the expected growth curve . The growth curve is a useful tool that helps you to pick up on irregularities in growth and introduce appropriate corrective measures.

When you are asked to provide an expected adult body weight > for your young, growing horse it is commonplace to start with the mother's body weight, and add 10-15% if the young one is a stallion, or if the father is a particularly large horse.

Provide a better service to your clients! Send reports to your horse owners at regular intervals! PC-Horse allows you to mail most reports directly from the program.

You may add your logo to the contact information you use to ”brand” your advice in the Consultant version of PC-Horse

You will always know when the Ca/P or Zn/Cu-quota is correct when you formulate a diet in PC-Horse.

Make a habit of visiting www.pc-horse.com to check that you are using the latest version of PC-Horse, and that you are using the latest version of the National (UK) feed list. We also provide up to date new information and materials at regular intervals.

timesaver

You may any time extend or upgrade your PC-Horse license. Any time remaining on a current license will be added to an extension or upgrade. If you move for instance from a Standard to a Professional version, you only pay the price difference between the two versions for the remaining days of the license period.

mattband

A help function assists you in calculating body weight (kg) from chest girth (cm) - and vice versa.

termometer

Remember that horses that go out in the cold require more feed to maintain body heat. The most effective solution is to provide additional forage during cold periods.

timesaver

You may save time by working with ”model horses” in the Professional and Consultant versions. Create the horse types that you use often, and activate them when you talk to a customer.

kilo Before you begin... Please note that a one-litre or any other convenient container does NOT hold 1 kg of feed, unless it is deliberately calibrated to do so. Use a weighing scale whenever possible. Weigh hay and other roughages you are using to get a good feel for how much a kilo represents.

PC-Horse enables you to customise feed lists. You can copy one or more feeds between feed lists, and copy across all feeds in a brand in a single operation.

For all breeds...

A tip!