Usually when we talk about September as “Back to School” we’re talking about the kids. This year, back to school has been the mantra for us at the pet store as well.

Adding a feed section has required that we learn a lot about feeding a variety of critters. There are birds: laying chickens, growing ducks and turkeys. Then there are the goats, the llamas, the rabbits and more. We’ve learned about medicated versus non-medicated feeds. What is scratch and when do you feed it?

I think one of the most interesting animals we’ve learned about feeding are horses. I remember back when I had my horse fifteen years ago. Feeding time meant a flake of hay and a scoop of oats. That’s what I fed him because that was how we were taught to feed a horse back then. Over the past fifteen years, we have learned a lot about feeding dogs and cats, but it never occurred to me that the same kind of information was being explored when it came to horses.

It turns out, there’s been a lot learned about the nutritional needs of horses over the years as well. In response, some great feeds and supplements have been developed for horses. We at Country Pet Shoppe have been filling our brains with information about them.

We have learned to ask questions like, “do you feed alfalfa or grass hay?” The mineral content of each type of hay is different and horses need different supplements depending on which they eat. Although we aren’t carrying hay yet, we’ve been learning about it too. It turns out, some fields turn out better hay than others. So now you can send in a sample of hay and have it evaluated for nutritional content, which allows you to make a decision about purchasing the hay based on how good it is for your critter. To think we used to just buy a bale and feed it to our animals.

We have learned that you can even purchase hay that is certified weed free — and that that’s the only kind allowed in the back country. I mean, it makes great sense, but who knew?

I was really impressed when I saw you could feed your horse TACO. Ethnic food for horses? Yum! Then I found out that meant Timothy, Alfalfa, Corn and Oats. OK, maybe not as exciting as Mexican food for horses but still pretty cool concept. It’s a complete food — again great for taking horses into the back country, and it’s certified weed-free too.

There are special foods for older horses that can eat hay, and special foods for senior horses that can’t eat hay. And there are foods for growing horses, pregnant horses, fat horses, skinny horses and more.

Obviously, we at Country Pet Shoppe don’t know nearly all we want to know yet but we are learning just as fast as we can. Luckily, most people coming in for feed have known what they are looking for. Our goal is to learn all we can so we can help folks find solutions to new problems that may arise, or help folks learn how to take proper care of new critters. It won’t be too long before we will have the answers to the questions folks ask!