Whereas you may believe this is a easy thing to achieve – feed your horse – you would be astounded at the number of horse owners that do not know the basics.  There is no actual rule of thumb for feeding, as each horse’s dietary needs will vary based on age, weight and amount of activity.

To begin with, your horse in nature uses forage as being a core constituent of their diets. It is one of the Main requirements for a properly functioning digestive system. When we speak of forage, we usually mean natural pasture and cut hay.

Mature horses ordinarily eat approximately 2 to 2.5 pct of their body weight in feed every day. So a 1,000 pound horse will eat roughly 20 to 25 lbs of feed per day. Therefore high quality feed, not low quality high fibre feed (which can interfere with proper digestion).

In a perfect pasture planet, your horse should consume at least 1 % of his body weight in hay/pasture forage each day. In case your horse does not do much exertion, they’ll do nicely on strictly forage, with no grain thrown in.  On the other hand, developing, breeding, or working horses have to have dietary supplements in addition to forage – like grain or a supplement concentrate.  Think of it this way, forages should supply at least one half or more of the total weight of the feed eaten on a daily basis for maximum growth and development.

Till you can feed a balanced “meal” for a horse, it’s a must to know the nutrient content and quality of your forage. As soon as you know that, one can determine the precise quantities of each to fulfill nutrient needs.

The best resource, and the least expensive one for summer season feed is your pasture.  And, usually good pasture by itself can offer the whole nutritional requirements your horse needs.  How do you figure out how much pasture is needed to provide for a horse?  This is a rough guideline that will help you: (using a weight of 1,000 – 1,200 pounds)

Mare and foal 1.75 to 2 acres
Yearlings 1.5 to 2 acre
Weanlings 0.5 to 1 acre

Winter feed naturally would be cut hay, and again, premium if you can find it.  It needs to be cut early, be leafy and green in color and as free as viable of dirt, moulds, weeds and stubble.  This feed is normally full of protein, minerals and natural vitamins.

Yes, you can use alfalfa hay, but be cautious about the higher protein content if you are giving to young growing horses, as it may contain an unnecessary amount of calcium in connection to phosphorus.  Excessive calcium is absolutely not good for rising horses.  If you’re not clear in your mind about hay quality, have it checked.

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