Getting the Balance Right All horses are individual and require diets developed to suit them. Workload, modern day management, lifestyle and temperament will all affect what your horse needs from his feed. Typically a horse requires a minimum of 2.5% of their bodyweight as food every day which should be split between forage (grass, hay, haylage, chaff) and concentrates.
Forage: Concentrate Ratios
Forage % Concentrate %
Maintenance / Very Light Work
90 - 95 80 - 90 70 - 80 60 - 70 50 - 70 40 - 60
5 - 10
Light Work
10 - 20 20 - 30 30 - 40 30 - 50 40 - 60
Light – MediumWork
Medium
Medium-Hard Work
Hard Work
Vicki’s Nutrition Tip
Think Fibre First - Always try to fulfil your horse’s requirements from fibre (forage, chaffs etc) in the first instance and top up with concentrate as/if required for condition and/ or performance. Don’t forget that if you are not feeding any concentrate or feeding less than the recommended level, that your horse is not receiving its daily requirement of vitamins and minerals. Topping up with an appropriate vitamin and mineral supplement or balancer will ensure that these requirements are met.
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