Feeding a horse may appear easy, but you would be amazed if you knew about the ignorance level of various horse owners. It is a fact that there is no golden rule relevant involving the nutritional needs of a horse, as it mostly depends on the age, body weight and the level of activity, which the horse goes through. Grass is the most fundamental part of a horse diet. It is one of the MAJOR necessities for a properly functioning digestive system so when we speak of forage, we normally mean natural pasture and cut hay.

The quantum of food a big horse requires is close to 2 to two point five% of their body weight, so when a horse weighs a thousand pound, it would require 20 to 25 pounds of feed per day. Horses require feed, which is high in nutrition value and not high-fiber, food which tampers with its digestive system. In a perfect world, your horse should consume a minimum of 1 percent of his body size in hay/grass grass daily.

In case your horse is not employed in much activity, then the right feed is only forging without any grains. However, horses which are at the growing or breeding stage or they are very active would require to have supplements to their grass diet, like grains or concentrated supplement. Think about it this way, grasses should offer at least one half or more of the total weight of the feed eaten everyday for best growth and development.

On the other hand, horses which are active, or at the growing or breeding stage, require additional supplemental feeds over and above the grass like grains or concentrate supplements. Think about it this way, forages should supply at least one half or more of the total size of the feed eaten everyday for optimum growth and development. The food content and the quality of the grass are essential considerations when you are planning to give your horse a balanced diet. When you are aware of this, you can easily figure out the correct amounts of nutrients that would meet his specific requires.

The best source and the least expensive one for summer feed is your grass fields and, in most cases good pasture by itself can provide all the nutrition requisites your horse needs. But how do you come to know how much pasture is right for your horse? Using a weight of 1000 to 1200 pounds, here is a rough guideline. This means that a mare and foal 1.75 to 2 acres - yearlings 1.5 to 2 acre and weanlings 0.5 to 1 acre.

Winter food of course would be cut hay, and again, high quality if you can provide it. The hay which you food should be cut uniformly and have green leaf-like appearance and there should not be any dust, moulds, weeds or stubble accompanying the hay. This food is normally rich in protein, minerals and vitamins.

Alfalfa hay is great for horses in a developing phase as it is protein enriched by there could be excessive calcium content in relation to phosphorus. Since abnormal calcium may not be good for growing horses, you could opt for a hay analysis, in case you are not too sure.

Tags: Horses