The Science of Horse Meal Prep: A Sleep-Deprived Confession

A small glimpse into the order and chaos of barn life

Ever wonder what it’s like to prepare meals for horses? No, probably not. Well, in my sleep-deprived state, I needed to occupy my time before I headed back to work. The following chaos is the result.

I have about 45 minutes before I need to leave to go back to the barn.

I have slept a total of 3 hours.

I’ve already been out to meet with the vet today about 6 horses, and honestly don’t know how I’m still standing. I have to go back now and fix the feed for the evening feed tonight. I’ll also prepare meals for the following day, breakfast and lunch.

For 25 horses.

That normally only takes about an hour, but then I have to teach a lesson afterwards. Today might be a day that I call out and say I’m not fit to teach, but I also know that the kid can’t come another day this week, and her parents won’t bring her out if she isn’t having a lesson. So here I am, hoping that they cancel, like they are so prone to do.

The horses are non-negotiable. They are part of something that I have to do. The only other person who knows how to prepare feed is out of town. She left this morning at 6 am. She’s gone until Sunday.

You may think, oh, how hard can it be to fix horse feed? I’m sure someone else could do it…?

They can’t (well, they probably could), but there is no one there to ask. Fixing feed for these horses isn’t a quick little thing. Fixing feed for these twenty-five horses is like performing a science experiment for each of them.

Each horse gets fed a certain amount of one or two of a few different feeds. We measure it in pounds. Some horses get as little as a pound and a half of food a day. Others get close to 9 or 10 pounds. It all depends on their age, metabolism, workload, previous injuries, and ideal weight.

We crazy horse people, also add supplements. So each horse has its own packaged supplement pack(we require them to be prepackaged because 25 horses with individual needs is a lot) that we also add to their grain. Some horses have over 5 supplements. These range from supplements for their joints, gut, feet, coat, skin, hair, metabolism, insulin levels, and the list goes on and on. Peanut also gets special Chinese herbs that you can only order from one place. I’m not sure what’s in them, and I’m not sure if it’s legal. But it might work?

If your horse has a problem, someone’s made a supplement for it. It’s a bit like humans and the vitamin world. But even less regulated. No one tells horse people, you shouldn’t combine 50 million supplements and hope something works. Some are tested, some work, some I swear by… But man, we come up with some crazy things. Two of the horses get a honey drizzle on their dinner at night. Some of them get extra supplements only at dinner. Most get them in the morning and at night, and one gets them at lunch…

Then come the ones who have special medication. Some owners mix their medication in their prepacked supplement bag, but we also have 5 that get pills in their dinner. They are mostly for metabolic problems and joint problems. These are the things that actually matter.

So we’re done, right?

Wrong.

Some of them also get liquid supplements. Those were just the powdered ones in the bag. Some for their coat, two joint supplements, a weight supplement, a supplement to help them sweat for our horse with anhidrosis (Peanut thinks sweating is optional, and in Louisiana heat, it is not)… I call it their juice.

Then I line them up in order and put them in a cart, and they are ready to roll out at 3:30. Every day.

Oh, right, don’t forget to add water to some!

But not others.

And not too much, because Peanut might try to drown himself while eating again… (Peanut is my problem child)

And there you have it. The horse’s food. Hand delivered to their stall or paddock. Think of it like room service. Created (with love) for them.

Three scheduled, prepacked meals for each horse every day at the same time. Like clockwork.

Now if only I could do that for myself. Instead, I’ll come home, and it’ll be too late to nap. So I’ll edit this piece… Order dinner to go, and hopefully I’ll get some sleep tonight.

But for now, off to the barn I go.

Enjoyed this? May I suggest

Another Sleepless Night

Recurring nightmares haunt some nights, while peaceful and quick sleep plagues others, but the inability to stay asleep…

fragments-of-sanity.ghost.io

Originally Posted on Medium