How to Feed Your Horse

Determine the weight and work level of your horse. To find out how much your horse weighs, purchase a weight tape (a special tape measure that goes around your horse's girth). Weight tapes are available at most tack and feed stores. While weight tapes are not totally accurate, they are good enough for this application. You will also need to determine how often your horse is worked, and for how long. A common scale is:
Never worked = maintenance, 1-3 times a week for 30-60 minutes = light work, over three times a week or for more than 60 minutes a day = moderate to high work. Additionally, horses that are growing, pregnant, lactating or used for breeding will have higher nutritional needs, as will horses that live outside in cold weather or senior horses.

Calculate your horse's dietary needs. Horses that are rarely ridden or only used lightly will need to eat about 1.5 to 2 percent of their body weight each day. EXAMPLE - for an average 1000 pound horse ridden two days a week will mean feeding 15 to 20 pounds of food a day. Usually a horse that is not worked hard will only need hay, but occasionally these horses will need a pound or two of grain in addition to the hay. Horses that are worked moderately will usually need 2.0 to 2.5 percent of their body weight - for a 1000 pound horse that will be 20 to 25 pounds of food, and 1-4 pounds of that food might be grain. A horse that is used heavily or for breeding might require as much as 20 to 30 pounds of food a day, including 5 to 8 pounds of grain. No matter how much you feed your horse per day, you should always break it up into two to three smaller meals per day, as horses are grazers and they are used to eating small, frequent meals.