What are pellets used for?
They can be used to add calories to a horse’s diet. They are a great source of calories for horses, because they are forage-based. Forage based calories will not cause many of the problems that high sugar and starch feeds, such as grains, do. They provide the calories without the “hot” factor. The majority of the horses out there will not get “hot” on alfalfa. However, there are a few horses out there that are allergic to alfalfa — these horses will usually get “hot” on alfalfa. They can also be used to add protein to a diet. Alfalfa is higher in protein than grass hays, so pellets can be used to boost the protein level of a diet. However, in the scheme of things, they aren’t going to boost the overall protein level that much, unless you are feeding significant quantities of them. The average horse is going to get much more protein from his pasture and grass hay than he is a few pounds of pellets each day. For example, 10 pounds of grass hay (the minimum a 1000 pound horse should be e
