Horse Feeding Guides: Diet and Nutrition Tips

The vast majority of a horses diet should be forage or roughage 1 Hay however is not enough for a complete nutritional profile. The addition of grains and concentrates will add critical minerals and nutrients but will also add calories. Below see types of roughage feeds and concentratesordered from least to most complete.
Roughage and Fiber
A horse on anything but a complete feed should eat 1 52 of its body weight in goodquality roughage in the form of pasture hay or other types of fiber. This equals 1520 pounds of hay per day for an average 1000 pound horse. Because horses evolved to graze it is the most natural to feed smaller frequent meals throughout the day if your horse isnt on pasture.

Pasture
Green grass is the most natural form of roughage and can be the most economical. However it is important to routinely ensure pasture is free of any poisonous plants or debris that may injure the horse. Also fresh green grass is very high in easily digestible sugar so horses that are prone to obesity may need to have restricted pasture to prevent metabolic disease. In seasonal climates pastures may not supply enough nutrition in the winter so hay supplementation in colder temperatures may be necessary.
Hay
Hay is dried and baled grass such as timothy Bermuda grass or orchard or alfalfa. There is no perfect hay horses prone to obesity require a less nutrientdense hay while others may require those with more protein or easily digestible carbohydrates. Timothy orchard oat and Bermuda are all grass hays. These are all high in fiber but lower in energy and protein than alfalfa. Hay is usually kept in either square or round bales with the former being divided up into partitions called flakes. Weighing a sample flake from each new batch will give you