While you may think this is an easy thing to do - feed your horse - you would be shocked at the amount of horse owners that do not know about the fundamentals. There is no real rule for feeding, as each horse's nutritive needs will change depending on age, weight and level of activity. To begin with, your horse naturally uses forage as a primary component of their diets. It happens to be one of the MAJOR essentials for correctly functioning guts. When we speak of forage, we often mean natural pasture and cut hay. Mature horses typically eat about 2 to 2.5 p.c of their body weight in feed every day. So a 1,000 pound horse will eat approximately 20 to 25 pounds of feed per day. This means high quality feed, not sub-standard high fiber feed (which can interfere with correct digestion).
In an ideal pasture world, your horse should eat at least 1 p.c of his body weight in hay/pasture forage daily. If your horse doesn't do much work, they are going to do nicely on exactly forage, with no grain thrown in. From another standpoint, growing, breeding, or working horses must have additions as well as forage - such as grain or a supplement concentrate. Regard it this way, forages should ideally supply 1 half or even more of the overall weight of the feed eaten daily for ideal growth and development.
Before it's possible to feed a well-balanced "meal" to your horse, you have to know the nutrient content and quality of your forage. Once you know that, you can work out the right amounts of each to meet nutrient necessities.
The best source, and the least costly one for summer feed is your pasture. And, in most cases good pasture on it's own can supply all of the nutritive necessities your horse needs. How do you work out how much pasture is needed to feed a horse? Here is a rough guideline to help you: (employing 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 of course would be cut hay, and again, top quality if you can provide it. It should be cut early, be leafy and green in color and as free as practicable of dust, moulds, weeds and stubble. This feed is mostly rich in protein, vitamins and minerals.
Yes, you need to use alfalfa hay, but watch out about the higher protein content if you're feeding to young growing horses, as it may contain an exorbitant quantity of calcium in relationship to phosphorus. Too much calcium isn't good for growing horses. If you are not sure about hay quality, have it investigated.
In an ideal pasture world, your horse should eat at least 1 p.c of his body weight in hay/pasture forage daily. If your horse doesn't do much work, they are going to do nicely on exactly forage, with no grain thrown in. From another standpoint, growing, breeding, or working horses must have additions as well as forage - such as grain or a supplement concentrate. Regard it this way, forages should ideally supply 1 half or even more of the overall weight of the feed eaten daily for ideal growth and development.
Before it's possible to feed a well-balanced "meal" to your horse, you have to know the nutrient content and quality of your forage. Once you know that, you can work out the right amounts of each to meet nutrient necessities.
The best source, and the least costly one for summer feed is your pasture. And, in most cases good pasture on it's own can supply all of the nutritive necessities your horse needs. How do you work out how much pasture is needed to feed a horse? Here is a rough guideline to help you: (employing 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 of course would be cut hay, and again, top quality if you can provide it. It should be cut early, be leafy and green in color and as free as practicable of dust, moulds, weeds and stubble. This feed is mostly rich in protein, vitamins and minerals.
Yes, you need to use alfalfa hay, but watch out about the higher protein content if you're feeding to young growing horses, as it may contain an exorbitant quantity of calcium in relationship to phosphorus. Too much calcium isn't good for growing horses. If you are not sure about hay quality, have it investigated.
About the Author:
Harriet Harman is a horse fan and correspondent on horse racing systems, including favored manuals and software such as The 5 Step Lay.
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