How to cook your own grains to make them safe for your horses
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Author: Dr Nerida McGilchrist | PhD Equine Nutritionist and Founder of My Happy Horse
Cooking cereal grains before you feed them to your horse is absolutely essential (with the exception of oats).
Cooking improves how easy the starch inside the grain is to digest.
The starch (the white stuff you can see in the middle of the grain) is the major source of energy contained in grains and it is the single reason we feed cereal grains to horses.
And because cooking improves the small intestinal digestibility of the starch, cooking also drastically reduces the chance of grains negatively affecting the health of your horse’s hindgut.
For the finer details of why we cook grains, have a read of our blog post ‘Why grains for horses should ALWAYS be cooked’.
Cooked grains are readily available on the market as extruded, steam flaked, popped or micronized grains.
BUT, you can also cook grains yourself! By simply boiling them.
How long should you cook grains for your horse?
Are you ready for the answer? It is really very technical …
Cook grains until they are soft and squishy!
Just cook them with lots of water until they are easy to squash between your thumb and index finger. Once they are soft like this their digestibility will be very good.
And remember, it is the HEAT PLUS WATER that makes the grain starch more digestible.
You can’t just soak them until they are soft, this won’t improve digestion… you must, must also use heat!
When you feed cooked grains your horses will digest the grains super well, gain weight or hold condition easily and have a happy and healthy hindgut!
Happy cooking!
About the Author
Dr Nerida McGilchrist
Dr Nerida McGilchrist is an Australian equine nutritionist with a PhD and over two decades of experience. As the founder of Equilize Horse Nutrition, and advisor to some of the world's largest nutrition companies, she’s built an international reputation for blending science with practical solutions. Now, she’s bringing her expertise to My Happy Horse to make advanced nutrition accessible to all.