How Many Calories Should a Horse Be Given a Day?

Horses are large animals and many of them are very athletic. This means they need to get plenty to eat in order to maintain their weight and to provide their bodies with energy so they can do their jobs. Most horses will eat throughout the entire day, which helps them get the calories they need.

  1. Calories and Food Sources

    • An average horse that weighs about 1,000 pounds will need approximately 15,000 calories each day in order to maintain its weight. However, if that same horse does moderate work---it gets ridden regularly and plays outside, but nothing too strenuous---its calories will need to be bumped up to around 25,000 calories.

      Finally, if the horse is getting a lot of strenuous exercise---perhaps it gets ridden almost every day, goes to competitions, and jumps or gallops often---it may need to eat 33,000 calories or more in order to get the nutrients it needs.

      A horse should get these calories from a variety of sources, since different types of food vary in the nutrients and calories they have. For example, grass does not have a lot of calories compared to oats, but the horse may be able to eat it throughout the entire day. Oats, on the other hand, cannot be eaten in large amounts, as they can make the horse sick and tend to give the horse more energy, but just one pound of oats can have over 1,200 calories. Hay is another food that can be eaten throughout the day and in larger amounts, and usually has less than 1,000 calories per pound.

      The different foods a horse eats provide different purposes. Hay is the basis for most horses' diets and the average horse will eat 15 to 20 pounds of it a day; grains, such as oats or corn, are used to supplement the calories a horse receives from hay and to provide additional nutrients. Grains also provide extra energy and will be more important for horses that are active.

    Considerations

    • A horse's nutritional needs depend on a lot of factors, such as age, size and activity level. It is important to work with an equine veterinarian, nutritionist or other professional in order to determine the dietary needs for the individual horse. There is a wide variety of foods to choose from, and many supplements that can be added to the horse's food in order to help keep it as healthy as possible. Improper feeding of a horse can be detrimental to its health, so it is important to keep it safe and feed it exactly what it needs to help prevent him from getting sick or malnourished.