Content

• Steps
• Part 1 of 3: Understanding Your Horse's Nutritional Needs
• Part 2 of 3: Determining Your Horse's Nutritional Needs
• Part 3 of 3: Adjusting Your Horse's Nutrition
• Tips
• Warnings
• Additional articles

Feeding your horse can be challenging. There are so many different foods out there, and no two horses are exactly alike. The amount and type of feed given will depend on the horse species, age, weight, health, workload, climate and what feed is available in your area. Read the article below to learn how to feed your horse.

Steps

Part 1 of 3: Understanding Your Horse's Nutritional Needs

1. 1 Provide your horse with plenty of fresh, clean water. Horses require approximately 20-60 liters of water per day. If possible, make sure that water is always available to the horse. Otherwise, give your horse water at least twice a day and give him some time to drink.
   • Make sure the water in the water trough stays clean and does not freeze. Keep the trough clean by flushing it with a hose every day.
2. 2 Provide your horse with enough structured carbohydrates. Structured carbohydrates such as hay and grass make up an essential part of a horse's diet. Horses consume a lot of hay and grass as they are their main sources of food. In fact, horses eat about 7-9 kilograms (or 1-2% of their own weight) of hay daily, so make sure that the horse always has enough of it.
   • Make sure the hay you give your horse is free of mold and dust.
3. 3 Provide limited amounts of unstructured carbohydrates to your horse. Unstructured carbohydrates such as oats, corn, and barley are also important for the horse's nutrition. Give your horse a small amount of grain throughout the day. Horses need 200 grams of grain every day for every 45 kilograms of their own weight. Feed the grain in 2-3 portions equally spaced throughout the day.
   • Be sure to measure your portions to give your horse the correct amount of grain.
   • If it's hot outside, feed your horse grain during cooler hours of the day, such as early morning and late evening.
4. 4 Supplement your horse's diet with protein, fat, vitamin and mineral supplements. Although your horse will get the majority of his calories from his staple food in the form of hay and grass, you should give him fortified supplements daily to fill gaps in certain nutrients. Proteins, fats, vitamins and minerals are an important part of the horse's diet, but they do not need them in large quantities.
5. 5 Use vitamin and mineral supplements as needed. If you think that your horse is not getting enough vitamins and minerals in his diet, then you can use special vitamins for horses. Just be careful not to overfeed your horse with vitamins. An excess of vitamins is just as harmful as a deficiency.
6. 6 Give your horse treats in moderation. Giving your horse treats to encourage him is a great way to bond with him. Just do not overuse treats, otherwise the horse will demand them and may even begin to examine your clothes in search of treats.
   • Apples, carrots, green peas, watermelon skins, and celery are great treats for your horse.

Part 2 of 3: Determining Your Horse's Nutritional Needs

1. 1 Measure the horse's weight using a special weighing tape or platform scale (designed for weighing horses). Platform scales give a much more accurate result and, if possible, should be used instead of a weighing tape. The best way to assess the condition (fatness) of a horse is to record the dynamics of its weight. Weigh your horse every two weeks and plot changes.
2. 2 Calculate the horse's total daily nutritional requirements (forage and concentrate). The horse should consume about 1.5-3% of its own weight, and on average about 2.5%. Use the following equation to determine your horse's daily feed requirement: Horse weight / 100x2.5 = Total daily ration
3. 3 Determine how you want your horse's weight dynamics. Do you want to maintain the horse's current weight (use a supportive diet)? Do you want to reduce her weight due to her health condition (use a restricted diet)? Or do you want to add weight to the horse that was lost as a result of a previous illness, or just make up for a lack of weight?
   • The best strategy for constructing a feeding plan is to use the desired weight in the calculation, rather than the horse's current weight. For example, you have an underweight horse that weighs 300 kilograms. If her ideal weight should be 400 kilograms, you should not feed her at the rate of 2.5% of 300 kilograms. You need to give her feed in the amount of 2.5% of 400 kilograms.
   • Use the same approach for an overweight horse. Feed it based on your desired weight, not your current weight, which means you will be giving your horse less food than its current weight requires. This will lead to the fact that the horse will soon lose weight.
4. 4 Control the energy level of forage by mixing different types of forage. Different types of forage provide a horse with different amounts of energy, which depends on both the type of forage (grass, haylage, hay, straw) and the type of grass that composes it (rye, timothy, hedgehog). The time of year when there is the possibility of grazing the horse also affects the energy value of the feed. In the spring the grass is very rich in energy, while in the winter it is very poor in it. For stored hay, the time of mowing it affects its energy value. Oat straw is generally very low in calories. The best way to determine the nutritional value of forage is to analyze it.
5. 5 Determine what type of energy recovery is right for your horse. Some horses are very hot-tempered (quickly excited and easily frightened). In this case, feeding the horses with slow-released energy sources (fiber and oils) helps, these are the safest sources of energy and cause the least health problems.Other horses are lazy and lack a spark of enthusiasm. Feeding the horses with fast-absorbing energy sources (starchy oat and barley flakes / pellets) can help. Starch can contribute to a number of health problems and should not be given to some horses.
6. 6 If you are unsure of how much to feed your horse, consult a professional. If you are unsure how much you should feed your horse, talk to your veterinarian. Some horse food manufacturers provide horse feeding guidelines that you can use on their products.

Part 3 of 3: Adjusting Your Horse's Nutrition

1. 1 Adjust the horse's nutrition in the direction you require. Your horse's nutritional requirements will depend on the amount of fresh grass he is eating in the pasture, as well as his level of activity. Evaluate your horse's nutritional requirements each day to increase or decrease the feed intake accordingly.
   • If your horse has grazed in the pasture all day and ate a lot of grass, he will not need a lot of hay.
   • If your horse has a busy day at work and has been ridden a lot, then you should provide him with more feed to replenish the calories burned.
2. 2 Schedule feedings one hour before or after riding the horse. Do not feed the horse immediately before or after exercise, as this will result in insufficient blood circulation in the organs, which can affect digestion. Schedule feedings for your horse based on the activity schedule.
   • If your horse is going to be particularly hard-hitting, schedule a feed three hours before.
3. 3 Make changes to your horse's diet gradually. If you need to change the type of food you are giving your horse, do not simply switch to a new food. Start by replacing 25% of your old feed with a new one. After two days, replace 50% of the old feed with the new feed. After another two days, replace 75% of the old feed with new one. After the next two days, you will be able to completely transfer the horse to the new feed.
   • In addition to making gradual dietary changes, you should try to feed your horse around the same time every day. Horses do better if they have a regular feeding schedule.
   • Sudden changes in the horse's feed or feeding schedule can lead to hoof colic and laminitis. Colic in horses is a condition in which they have severe abdominal pain; in some cases, this may require surgical intervention. Hoof laminitis is a condition caused by poor blood circulation that can cause the hoof to separate from the leg. Laminitis is often fatal to a horse.

Tips

• If you have constant access to platform weights, keep records and assess the dynamics of the horse's weight. A horse that gained weight did not necessarily gain fat; it could have increased muscle mass.
• Feed your horse little by little. A horse's stomach is small compared to its body size and cannot hold much food.
• Platform scales are expensive and not everyone has access to them. Ask veterinarians, feed suppliers, and stables about their platform scales and if you can use them periodically. Remember that it is not the weight itself that matters, but its dynamics.
• If one horse needs nothing other than fodder and the other horses are given supplements, provide “empty complementary foods” in the form of low calorie chaff made from straw to chew on.
• Depending on how you feed your horse, you may need extra hay as some may spill onto the ground or bedding.
• Weigh the feed, do not feed the horse with shovels. Determine the weight capacity of the scoop for each feed type.
• Give your horse plenty of forage - grass, haylage, hay, or oat straw - to keep the horse's stomach full throughout the day. This will help maintain intestinal motility and the production of digestive juices, thereby avoiding horse behavioral and health problems.
• Prepare food daily and remove uneaten leftovers. Mixing feeds daily, rather than mixing feed once, will allow you to better monitor what your horse is eating and what he is eating. If your horse leaves any food or gets sick, you can remove certain additives from his diet.
• Use good quality forage and additives. Poor quality food with mold or decay can lead to colic. Cheap or poor feed may not be eaten at all by the horse and can be a waste of money in the long run.
• Always make sure that the feed storage area is always securely away from the horses. Using baskets with locks or elastic bands will keep your horse from eating too much.
• For horses eating too quickly, place 1-2 large stones in the grain bucket. When eating feed, the horse will have to move stones in order to be able to get to the grain.

Warnings

• Don't overload your horse's diet with too many supplements. An excess of vitamins and minerals is just as bad as a deficiency. Give supplements only when needed, not just in case.
• Never let your horse push you away while feeding (in fact, you shouldn't be allowed to do this at all, but especially when feeding).
• Follow your horse's feeding schedule. Do not change the feeding times (for example, do not feed her at 7 o'clock one day and 8 o'clock the next). If you are feeding your horse, feed it at the same time every day.
• Do not feed your horse immediately after exercise, as this can lead to colic. Allow the horse to cool properly before feeding to avoid colic. You can understand that the horse has cooled down by stopping the flaring of the nostrils and heavy breathing.
• Some complementary feeds must be pre-prepared before serving. Sugar should be soaked, and flaxseed should be boiled, if this is not followed, then both can be dangerous for the horse. The flakes usually need to be crushed to digest well, however, they are harmless and unprocessed.
• Like humans, horses can suffer from allergies. Alfalfa and barley allergies are common. Allergy symptoms usually present with a rash. Your veterinarian can help you diagnose allergies.
• Some owners want to feed their horses better and put them on an overly complex diet, which often leads to an unbalanced diet. Variety is a nice thing, but in limited quantities. It is better to give your horse the opportunity to sample different foods than to feed him directly with different types of forage, herbs, fruits and vegetables. Do not give too much. Make dietary changes gradually (see above for more details).
• Inappropriate feeding causes a number of medical and behavioral problems, including the following.
  • "Mouth" bad habits (for example, sucking on feeders and other things), eating wood and manure, the appearance of stomach ulcers. Be sure to check that the horse always has fodder available so that he does not have these problems.
  • Laminitis, irascibility. Avoiding starch and sugar in your diet can help protect against these problems.
  • Azoturia (increased urinary nitrogen excretion). Feeding the horse according to his load and cutting back on rest days will avoid this problem.
  • Colic. Feed your horse small, frequent, fiber, and quality supplements to help prevent colic. Make dietary changes gradually (see more on this above).
  • Obesity, exhaustion.Regular assessment of the animal's condition, keeping a written record of the dynamics of its weight and monitoring the energy received will help to avoid this.

Additional articles

How to take care of a horse How to treat colic in horses and ponies How to stack hay How to handle a horse with breathing problems How to ride a horse How to gallop on a horse How to trim the hooves of a horse How to behave next to a horse How to understand what horses are talking about How to determine pregnancy in a mare How to tell the age of a horse by its teeth How to braid a horse's mane How to give a horse injection How to shoe a horse