How to Avoid Overfeeding Your Horse

Proper feeding is essential to maintaining the health of your horse. Horse owners are generally spoilt for choice with the availability of numerous feed options, supplements and recommendations. However, overfeeding horses can cause long term metabolic disorders, such as obesity, as well as wasteful expenditure on food costs. You can determine your horse̵7;s daily meal requirements by taking into consideration its physiological state and workload. Incorporate good feeding practices and healthy food in your horse̵7;s diet to prevent overfeeding.

Things You'll Need

  • Online feed calculator
  • Medium quality grass hay
  • Commercial protein, mineral and vitamin supplement
  • Bathroom scale or food scale
  • Grains (oats, alfalfa, corn or barley)
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Instructions

    • 1

      Calculate the quantity of food that you need to feed your horse using an online feed calculator. Websites such as Baileys Horse Feeds allow you to establish your horse̵7;s daily food allowance based on its body weight and workload.

    • 2

      Feed your horse between 1 and 2 percent of its body weight in hay daily. For instance, if your horse weighs 1,000 pounds, you should feed it between 10 and 22 pounds of hay per day.

    • 3

      Feed your horse medium quality grass hay with little seed head as part of its main diet. Ensure that the hay is long-cut, as this encourages mastication and slows the rate of consumption. Add a combined commercial protein, mineral and vitamin supplement of up to 2 pounds per day to the feed to provide a balanced diet.

    • 4

      Weigh your horse̵7;s food prior to feeding. Use a bathroom scale or a food scale to weigh the exact quantity of food. This will prevent you from overfeeding your horse.

    • 5

      Split your horse̵7;s total daily food quantity into three small meals instead of two large meals. In the wild, horses forage for food and consume small quantities all through the day. Place the hay in racks to restrict the rate of consumption and enable your horse to eat the appropriate quantity over an extended period throughout the day.

    • 6

      Feed grains only if your horse has additional energy requirements. Gestating, lactating and growing horses, as well as racehorses, endurance and performance horses, have extra protein and calcium needs. Mix grains such as oats, alfalfa, corn or barley with the hay. Feed small quantities of 1 kg a day to prevent digestive disorders.