Do you want to keep your horse fit and healthy?

Feed your horse in a way that aligns with its natural eating habits. Choose a diet that is high in fiber, low in starch and sugar, contains a balanced mix of vitamins and minerals, and has an energy content tailored to its energy needs.

Too little roughage and too much concentrated feed with a high starch and sugar content can disrupt your horse’s metabolism and digestion and lead to health problems.

Your horse’s digestive system is designed to process small amounts of fiber-rich food 24 hours a day. In the wild, a horse grazes for at least 16 hours a day, ensuring a continuous intake of fiber and keeping its stomach and intestines healthy. The foundation of a healthy diet therefore always consists of sufficient roughage, such as hay or haylage, possibly supplemented with pasture access (grass).

“Did you know that your horse constantly produces stomach acid in its stomach? That’s why the intestines need a steady supply of fiber; otherwise, the acid will irritate them.”

If your horse isn’t getting enough roughage or if you’re feeding it too much concentrated feed, your horse is at a higher risk of digestive problems such as stomach ulcers and colic. It’s therefore important to ensure that your horse never goes more than 4–6 hours without roughage and that you don’t feed it too much concentrated feed with a high starch and sugar content. Because the latter also causes acidification and puts a strain on the stomach and intestines.

Choose foods with less starch and sugar

Standard horse feed, such as pellets and muesli, typically consists of grains and contains high levels of rapidly digestible carbohydrates, such as starch and sugar. However, horses have a limited ability to digest starch. When horses consume too much starch, the enzymes in the small intestine cannot break it down sufficiently. Undigested starch can pass into the large intestine, where it can disrupt the bacterial flora. A disrupted intestinal flora can lead to loose stools and colic.

The digestion of fast-acting carbohydrates causes (sharp) spikes in blood sugar levels. These spikes can lead to metabolic problems. Vitalbix Horse Feed derives most of its energy from safe sources such as fiber and fats, thereby helping to prevent digestive and metabolic problems.

All Vitalbix products are low in starch and sugar, making Vitalbix a responsible choice and suitable for horses that require a low-starch, low-sugar diet.

Roughage alone isn't enough!

In the wild, a horse has access to a wide variety of grasses, plants, and herbs, which it eats as needed to obtain the necessary nutrients. However, our pastures are monotonous in terms of vegetation, and the soils are often too poor, meaning your horse cannot obtain all the necessary essential nutrients—such as vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and fatty acids—from its forage (hay and grass).

A deficiency or imbalance in essential nutrients can have a significant long-term impact on your horse’s overall health.

With Vitalbix products, you can naturally and healthily supplement these essential nutrients in your horse’s diet to help keep your horse fit and healthy.

Prevent vitamin and mineral deficiencies

For standard horse feed, the Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) is approximately 2.5 to 3 kg per day. However, many horses are fed much less than the Recommended Daily Allowance because otherwise they would become overweight or consume too much energy. This is a particularly common problem among hardy breeds.

Do you feed your horse less concentrated feed than the amount recommended on the package?
If so, your horse may develop a deficiency in certain nutrients, which can have a negative impact on your horse’s overall health.

Vitalbix horse feed is more concentrated than regular horse feed, so you need to feed significantly less of it. For example, Vitalbix Daily Complete is so concentrated that you only need to feed about 300 grams per day to a 500-kg horse! Ideal for horses prone to weight gain.

Tailor the energy content to your horse's needs

To keep your horse fit and healthy, it’s important to feed according to its energy needs. This means tailoring your horse’s diet to what it actually needs.

A cold-blooded horse (such as an Icelandic, Haflinger, Shetland, etc.) generally uses its energy about 10% more efficiently and therefore requires less feed than a warm-blooded horse. A sport horse ridden at a high level has different energy requirements than a horse performing light work.

Are you feeding your horse more energy than it burns? If so, your horse may become overweight, which increases the risk of health problems such as insulin resistance and laminitis.

Are you feeding your horse less energy than it needs? If so, your horse may become too thin and lack the energy to perform.

With Vitalbix Horse Feed, you can perfectly tailor the energy content of your horse’s diet to its needs—for example, by combining Vitalbix Daily Complete Balancer and Vitalbix Active+ High-Fiber Sport Muesli.

Choose a new generation of horse feed

High in fiber – low in starch and sugar

Vitalbix Horse Feed has been developed in accordance with the latest scientific insights on healthy nutrition for horses. All products are high in fiber and contain no (whole) grains, molasses (sugars), or soy. As a result, Vitalbix Horse Feed is very low in starch and sugar and is highly digestible.

Do more with less

Vitalbix Horse Feed is a concentrated feed with a high content of vitamins and minerals. As a result, you need to feed significantly less of it than regular horse feed.

Healthy nutrition for every horse

With our range of products, you can put together a healthy diet for every horse. Vitalbix Horse Feed is a healthy choice for both leisure horses and those competing at the highest level.

Our experts are happy to provide you with personalized nutrition advice

Every horse is unique and has different nutritional needs. That’s why our nutrition experts are happy to provide you with free, personalized nutrition advice to help you create the optimal diet for your horse(s). Do you have an overweight pony, a sport horse with a sensitive stomach, or multiple horses ranging from young to old? Our experts are happy to help you with all your nutrition questions. And with the nutrition advice form, requesting advice is very easy!

Request free nutritional advice »