Behind the Bag: What's Really in Your Horse's Feed?
Did you know that what's printed on a feed label might not reflect what's actually in the bag?
Unlike human food, horse feed labelling is barely regulated in Australia. There's no legal requirement to disclose energy, protein, sugar, starch, or even mineral levels. Each brand chooses what to report—and as our independent testing shows, many figures are missing or very different from what's actually in the bag.
This lack of consistency makes it nearly impossible for owners to confidently compare feeds or make informed decisions based on their horse's true needs.
We Put Popular Feeds to the Test
We independently tested five popular commercial hard feeds, comparing what was declared by the manufacturers versus what was actually present in the feed.
The results? Notable variations in key nutrients—and some feeds not declaring major components at all.
The Starch Scandal
One feed declared 19% starch on the label. Independent lab testing revealed 27% starch—an 8% discrepancy that could be life-threatening for laminitic or metabolic horses.
This isn't "batch variation." This is a systemic labelling problem that puts horses at risk.
What We Found Across All Five Feeds:
❌ All products tested higher in starch levels than declared
❌ All products tested higher in crude protein than declared
❌ All products significantly lower in zinc and copper (critical for healthy hooves)
Why This Matters: Understanding Your Horse's Nutrition
Let's break down the key nutrients on feed labels and why discrepancies can impact your horse's health.
Digestible Energy (DE): Higher or Lower?
DE (measured in MJ/kg) is the amount of energy a horse can extract from feed—think of it like calories in human food.
Higher DE = more energy-dense, suited to performance horses, poor doers, or horses in heavy work
Lower DE = ideal for good doers, spelling horses, or metabolic types needing controlled energy
Important: A feed that's low in sugar/starch can still be high in DE due to fat or fibre content. Always consider your horse's workload and metabolism.
Crude Protein: Is More Always Better?
Crude protein is calculated based on the percentage of nitrogen in feed, giving us an estimate of protein content. But here's the catch: crude protein says nothing about protein quality.
High crude protein doesn't guarantee digestibility or usable amino acid content. It could be from high-quality sources like soybean meal and lucerne, or from cheap grain fillers that are deficient in the amino acids horses actually need (like lysine, methionine, and threonine).
It's not the same as the protein in your protein shake or a steak. Those are complete, bioavailable amino acid sources. Feed "crude protein" could be high-quality muscle-builders or low-quality nitrogen waste—and the label doesn't tell you which.
The Hidden Dangers of Excess Protein
When fed in excess—or when it's poor quality—crude protein can contribute to:
- Energy issues and behavioural changes
- Insulin sensitivity in metabolic horses (emerging research)
- High urea smell in urine and manure
- Stocking up when stabled
- Kidney strain
- Even respiratory flare-ups
So when you see 18% versus 12% crude protein, don't assume the higher one is better. Context is key.
Carbohydrates: Decoding the Alphabet Soup
These acronyms confuse even seasoned horse owners. Let's compare them to human food labels:
Carbohydrates = the broad category containing all the sub-categories below
Starch = complex carbohydrates (like bread/pasta). Digested in the small intestine, but if too much is fed, can spill into the hindgut causing acidosis, colic, or laminitis. "Too much" starch is completely individual to each horse.
ESC (Ethanol Soluble Carbs) = simple sugars, readily digestible and can impact blood glucose and insulin levels
WSC (Water Soluble Carbs) = sugars (in ESC) + fructans
NSC (Non-Structural Carbs) = Combined Starch + WSC
NFC (Non Fibre Carbs) = All non-fibre digestible carbs, including:
- ESC, WSC, Starch
- Organic acids
- Pectins
- Some fermentation products
These values are interrelated—but in the horse world, not every feed manufacturer even discloses them. And our testing reveals significant discrepancies.
Why it matters: Some carbohydrates can bypass the small intestine and ferment in the hindgut, disrupting microbial balance, contributing to hindgut acidosis, or even triggering laminitis.
Feed Sensitivities: What Can This Look Like?
The consistency and smell of your horse's manure tells a story about their internal health, particularly their gut.
Red flags to watch for:
- Walking into your stable and immediately smelling manure
- Too loose or poorly formed droppings
- Well-formed but incredibly firm manure
- Lying down after eating
- Flank watching
- Girthy behaviour under saddle
- General spookiness or unexplained tension
- Ongoing muscle tension that isn't resolving
- Stocking up when stabled overnight
- Even headshaking can be linked to feed sensitivities in some cases
If your horse exhibits any of these symptoms and you're feeding a commercial concentrate, it might be time to test your feed independently.
The Bottom Line
Feeding your horse shouldn't be a guessing game. Foundational nutrition is key to a happy, healthy athlete—but you can only make informed decisions when you know what's actually in the bag.
What You Can Do:
- Request independent lab testing of your current feed (we used Feed Central's "Equi-Trainer" tests)
- Compare declared values to actual tested values
- Assess your horse's symptoms against nutrient discrepancies
- Make informed decisions based on real data, not marketing claims
Why APEX Exists
This transparency gap is exactly why we formulated APEX differently. We focus on bioavailable nutrition—not just hitting label claims, but ensuring what's on the label matches what's in the bag, and that those nutrients are actually usable by your horse's body.
Batches are tested. We publish our results on our Testing page. Because your horse deserves better than guesswork.
Want to test your feed independently? Contact Feed Central for their Equi-Trainer testing service.
Have questions about your horse's nutrition? We're here to help. Contact us or explore our range of performance supplements.
