It is important to choose the right feed for your horse.
Think about the type of horse you have; is it a good doer or a poor doer? Does it need to lose weight, gain weight or maintain its current weight? How much work is your horse in ? Does your horse have any metabolic conditions such as gastric ulcers, laminitis, EMS or PSSM?
A good doer is categorised as "
a horse that maintains their condition well and have a tendency to put on weight easily"
A poor doer is categorised as "
a horse or pony that tends to drop weight quickly and struggles to maintain"
It is important to consider how much work your horse actually does, before selecting how much energy they need in a feed. Many horse owners over estimate the amount of work their horse is in.
Rest / Light Work is considered to be quiet hacking, light schooling 1-3 times per week
Moderate work is considered to be daily hacking 1-2 hours, schooling 30-60 mins, riding club level competitions, showjumping, low level dressage
Hard work is considered to be hard schooling, endurance, eventing, racing and high level dressage training and competing
Feeding the overweight horse
Never drop below 1% of body weight. If you are feeding 1.5% of bodyweight and your horse is not dropping weight you need to reduce the energy content (calories) of your feed rather than the volume.
You can do this by:
- Soaking hay for up to 12hrs to reduce nutrients and calories in the hay (it is recommened to feed a low calorie balancer or multi purpose vitamin and mineral supplement to replenish the lost nutrients)
- Mixing clean oat or barley straw in with hay. You can safely feed up to 1/3 of the total hay ration as straw.
- Weigh your forage!
- Restrict time out to grass by either stabling your horse during the night with soaked hay and turning out during the day or using a well fitted grazing muzzle.
Feeding the underweight horse
Horses with high energy requirements like competition horses, hunt horses or horses in general hard work may need more than 2% of their BW per day. Pregnant mares, lactating mares and breeding stallions also fall into this category.
These types of horses should have access to ad-lib forage, either in hay, grass, haylage or a forage replacement feed. You can add concerntrates to increase calories. It is generally recommended to feed concerntrates across smaller meals per day rather than one big bucket feed as the horse may not digest all the feed. Forage should be the base of any horse's diet, with concerntrates added only as supplemental. Concerntrates should not the primary diet for horse, as the hindgut needs forage.
Laminitis
Feeding laminitic horses and ponies is not easy, and great care should be taken when choosing their diet.
Some laminitic equines need to put weight on, rather than lose weight. In which case there are lots of laminitic safe feeds to promote condition gain.
As a general rule, sugar and starch must be avoided. This includes in forage. Whilst there are some 'laminitic safe' haylages on the market, every horse is different and haylage which may suit one may not suit another.
Gastric UlcersHorses that have/had gastric ulcers should have acess to ad-lib forage at all times. Low starch feeds should be chosen to avoid aggrivation.
For expert, tailored nutritional advice we recommend getting in touch with the following:
Bailey's Horse Feeds:[email protected] -
+441371850247, or their nifty feed finder
https://www.baileyshorsefeeds.co.uk/feed-finder
Spiller's Feeds:01908 225526 or fill out their advide form on
https://www.spillers-feeds.com/contactTopSpec Horse Feeds: call their award winning helpline on
+44 (0)1845 565 030Dengie Horse Feeds: [email protected] or call their nutrition line on
Keyflow Horse Feeds: [email protected]
Allen & Page: 01362 822902