TheEquine |

TheEquine : "Mature horses will generally consume 2 to 2.5 percent of their body weight in feed each day. For example, a 1,000 pound horse should consume approximately 20 to 25 pounds (90 percent dry matter) of feed per day. The anatomy of the horse's digestive tract restricts effective digestion and utilisation of low quality forages that are high in fibre. The poor digestion of low-quality forages can restrict the amount of dry matter that a horse can eat to a level below what is necessary to meet the horses nutrient needs. Therefore a premium should be placed on using high-quality forages in the horse's diet.
Ideally, horses should consume a minimum of 1 percent of their body weight in hay or pastures each day. Mature horses performing minimal or no work can be maintained on high quality forages without supplementing their diet with grain. However, growing, breeding, or working horses require supplementing the forage with a grain or concentrate to meet their additional nutrient requirements. As a general rule, forages should supply one half or more of the total weight of the feed consumed daily for optimum horse growth and development.
Forages can provide varying amounts of the nutrient requirements depending on the forage quality and amount consumed. The nutrient content of the forage and concentrate in the horse's diet must be known to properly balance the diet. Once the quality of the feeds are known, then proper amounts of each can be calculated to meet the nutrient requirements."