Megan L. Campbell, D.V.M.

Equine nutrition is a complicated topic that is more of an art than a science.  Many things must be considered when feeding horses, including their age, occupation, breed and environment.  Most of the nutritional requirements of an average adult horse not in work and living in a temperate environment are met by good quality forage.  Working horses, growing horses, pregnant or lactating mares, “hard keepers”, or horses in extreme temperature require supplementation of a concentrated feed in addition to good quality forage.  There are two different types of dried forage: legume hays and grass hays.  Legume hays tend to have higher protein levels than grass hays.  An example of a legume is alfalfa.  Grass hays include timothy, orchard grass or brome grass.  Adult horses should be fed an average of 1.5-2.0% of their total body weight in hay per day.  Owners can get an idea of the average weight of one of their flakes using a fish scale.