Cath Shannon
Wednesday, 22 October 2025
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Safe feed suggestion for laminitis horse
Here’s a complete laminitis-safe feeding chart for a ~500 kg horse, showing as-fed weights for soaked hay, lucerne, unmolassed beet pulp, and copra, divided into 4 meals/day.
I’ve assumed soaked hay absorbs 40% water (45 min soak) and beet pulp & copra also soaked.
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Daily Totals
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As-Fed Weights (approx.)
Feed As-Fed Weight/day Notes
Soaked hay 13.3 kg 8 ÷ 0.6 = 13.3kg
Lucerne 0.75 kg Usually fed dry
Beet pulp 4.5 kg soaked
Copra meal 1 kg soaked Slightly absorbs water
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4-Meal Schedule
Meal Feed Amount (as-fed) Notes
1 – Morning Soaked hay 3.3 kg Feed slowly
Beet pulp 1.5 kg Soaked separately
2 – Midday Soaked hay 3.3 kg Small meal
Copra meal 0.25–0.3 kg Optional soak
3 – Afternoon Soaked hay 3.3 kg Keep calm environment
Lucerne 0.25 kg Adds protein
4 – Evening Soaked hay 3.3 kg Feed early evening
Beet pulp 1.5 kg Soaked
Copra meal 0.5–0.7 kg Optional
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Supplements
Salt: 20–30 g/day
Mineral/vitamin balancer: as per label
Biotin + zinc: for hoof support
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Tips for clients:
1. Divide soaked hay and other feeds into 4 small meals to reduce insulin spikes.
2. Weigh hay and beet pulp before soaking, then calculate as-fed weight.
3. Adjust beet pulp or copra slightly if the horse is losing weight.
4. Keep lucerne ≤15% of total forage to avoid high potassium/DCAD issues.
AN AVERAGE BALE OF HAY IS BETWEEN 15-25kg.
Lets assume 20kg.
Thats about 60% of a bale a day, which is about 3-4bales a week.
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