Novice horse-owners and occasional riders may not know the exact nutritional needs of horses. However, this is not strange because there are several variables in calculating what a horse requires in the way of food. The factors to take into account while working out the needs of horses are: age, weight and level of activity.
You cannot put rubbish in and expect your horse to perform marvellously. You cannot only turn your horse out into a field and expect it to find all that it needs. There are common cases of wild horses dying of starvation, particularly if the weather is bad.
Having said that, foraging, which mainly involves eating grass, is a major source of food and it gives the horse an interest, a varied diet and plenty of roughage as well. Roughage will also help your horse's digestive system keep working properly. Just like eating only junk food is not good for the human digestive system.
A mature, working horse requires about 2-2.5% of its body weight in decent quality grass or hay a day. Therefore, a horse of 1,000 pounds will need 20-25 pounds of good, fresh grass or hay a day. If the horse is not worked, it can probably get by on about 1% of its body weight in food.
In the summer, this is almost certainly not much of a problem, but if it is in the winter or if the land cannot sustain the number of horses you keep on it. If this is the case or if you want to breed or work the horse, you will probably have to supplement the forage food with grain or oats. In this case forage food ought to make up around half of a horse's food for top quality nutrition.
However, it is not just as easy as that either because not all grass and not all hay is of the same quality. The quantity that you feed depends on the quality needed not the quantity, so the feed that you give has to be tested too.
Your pasture is the best and the cheapest way of feeding your horse(s). Here is a rough and ready guide to feeding an average horse of 1,000-1,200 pounds in a good quality summer pasture. A mare and foal needs 1.75-2 acres; a yearling requires 1.5-2 acres and a weanling needs 0.5-1 acre.
You can harvest feed for the winter by cutting grass from a different field or by buying it. The hay should be pure and not dusty. It ought to also be free of damp and mould. It may not show any signs of rot or mildew.
There are other foodstuffs that you can supplement with, but you have to do more research. Alfalfa hay can be used but it is not the same as grass hay and you have to do other calculations. Oats and grain can also be given, but again more calculations are needed. There are services that you can use to get your horse's feed analyzed.
You cannot put rubbish in and expect your horse to perform marvellously. You cannot only turn your horse out into a field and expect it to find all that it needs. There are common cases of wild horses dying of starvation, particularly if the weather is bad.
Having said that, foraging, which mainly involves eating grass, is a major source of food and it gives the horse an interest, a varied diet and plenty of roughage as well. Roughage will also help your horse's digestive system keep working properly. Just like eating only junk food is not good for the human digestive system.
A mature, working horse requires about 2-2.5% of its body weight in decent quality grass or hay a day. Therefore, a horse of 1,000 pounds will need 20-25 pounds of good, fresh grass or hay a day. If the horse is not worked, it can probably get by on about 1% of its body weight in food.
In the summer, this is almost certainly not much of a problem, but if it is in the winter or if the land cannot sustain the number of horses you keep on it. If this is the case or if you want to breed or work the horse, you will probably have to supplement the forage food with grain or oats. In this case forage food ought to make up around half of a horse's food for top quality nutrition.
However, it is not just as easy as that either because not all grass and not all hay is of the same quality. The quantity that you feed depends on the quality needed not the quantity, so the feed that you give has to be tested too.
Your pasture is the best and the cheapest way of feeding your horse(s). Here is a rough and ready guide to feeding an average horse of 1,000-1,200 pounds in a good quality summer pasture. A mare and foal needs 1.75-2 acres; a yearling requires 1.5-2 acres and a weanling needs 0.5-1 acre.
You can harvest feed for the winter by cutting grass from a different field or by buying it. The hay should be pure and not dusty. It ought to also be free of damp and mould. It may not show any signs of rot or mildew.
There are other foodstuffs that you can supplement with, but you have to do more research. Alfalfa hay can be used but it is not the same as grass hay and you have to do other calculations. Oats and grain can also be given, but again more calculations are needed. There are services that you can use to get your horse's feed analyzed.
About the Author:
Owen Jones, the author of this article, writes on a variety of topics, but is currently involved with the distemper in horses. If you want to kcurrently more, please visit our website at Distemper Vaccines
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