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Before domestication, wild horses survived on a natural, mixed-species pasture diet. Their teeth allowed them to selectively graze fresh, leafy plants. Because horses have small stomachs, wild horses spent around 65% of their time trickle feeding—eating small amounts of forage throughout the day. As pastures matured with the seasons, grasses formed seed heads. These small seeds were low in starch and consumed slowly over the day. This gradual intake suited wild horses, who needed only enough energy to maintain body condition and flee from occasional predators.
Modern horses are often kept in barns, corrals, or small paddocks and are expected to perform athletically. This includes everything from casual riding to competitive events. Unlike wild horses, they don’t have the option to choose their diet—they rely on what they’re given, usually hay and commercial feeds. In many cases, grazing options are either degraded pastures with poor nutrition or lush, limited-species grasses. To meet the higher energy demands of performance, horse owners typically supplement with grain-based feeds. These include oats, barley, maize, and wheat—all members of the grass family that have been selectively bred to be high in starch, often above 60%. However, horses have a limited ability to digest starch. When they are fed too much, the excess starch passes into the hindgut and causes serious health problems.
The hindgut of a horse is designed to ferment fibrous feeds, like hay and pasture, using beneficial bacteria. When too much starch reaches the hindgut, these bacteria produce excessive acid. This leads to a condition called hindgut acidosis.
Hindgut acidosis can cause:
Some feed companies use heat processing (like extrusion, pelleting, or steam-flaking) to improve grain digestibility. While this helps starch digest earlier in the gut, it doesn’t reduce the total amount of starch. The risk of digestive upset still exists if too much starch is fed.
To support performance, horses need energy. They get this from four sources in their diet:
Starch can be safe in small amounts but becomes dangerous when overfed. Some horses show symptoms even when NSC (sugar + starch) levels exceed just 10–12%.
Protein provides necessary amino acids but is an inefficient and costly energy source. Excess protein can be hard on the horse’s metabolism, so it’s best used to support muscle function, not fuel work.
Fibre is the horse’s natural energy source, found in hay, pasture, and some specialized feeds like Cool Stance. While it’s safe and important, fiber alone can’t meet the energy needs of high-performance horses.
Oil offers 2 to 3 times more energy per gram than starch or protein. It generates less heat during digestion, making it ideal for hard-working horses or those in hot climates. Horses quickly adapt to oil in their diet, and it becomes a valuable fuel source during medium to high-intensity work.
Most vegetable oils (like soybean or corn oil) are polyunsaturated, slow to digest, and can go rancid. In contrast, tropical oils such as coconut oil contain medium-chain fatty acids (MCFAs) which are:
CoolStance Copra meal, derived from dried coconut, is a balanced feed ingredient that provides:
To maintain a healthy and high-performing horse:
