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Horses are huge animals that consume a lot of food each day. While many boarding barns might tell you to "throw 2 flakes"of hay to each horse that is not the best way to feed hay to horses. How much hay or grass a horse consumes in a day is critical for their performance and gut health. If you are wondering how much hay a horse should eat and how to best determine your horse's roughage needs, keep reading for all the answers.
How much should horses eat a day?
Many horses have their nutritional needs met with a variety of grain, supplements, and hay or grazing time in a field. In general, horses should eat 1.5 to 2.5% of their body weight each day. That means:
A 1000 lbs. horse will eat 15 to 25 lbs. of dry matter each day.*
A 1200 lbs. horse will eat 18 to 30 lbs. of dry matter each day.
An 800 lbs. horse will eat 12 to 20 lbs. of dry matter each day.
You can figure out your horse's daily intake needs with the following equation:
(Horse's weight x 1.5) / 100 OR (Horse's weight x 2) / 100 OR (Horse's weight x 2.5) / 100
*Remember these daily totals include grain and hay requirements.
How much hay should a horse eat?
Hay, or roughage, is an extremely important aspect of the horse's diet. In the wild, horses graze for upwards of 18 hours a day. The horse's digestive system was designed to have a steady stream of small portions moving through it all day. Horses that are not given adequate roughage or do not have access to food for prolonged periods of time are more likely to have ulcers and exhibit stable vices like wood chewing and cribbing.
Because of the importance of roughage, a horse's diet should consist of no less than 50% hay or grass. Depending on a horse's workload, body condition, and energy needs they may need to be fed more or less grain but owners should always try to keep the highest percentage possible of the horse's daily intake roughage.
To determine how much hay your horse will need each day use this formula:
(Pounds of food daily x percent roughage) / 100
For a 1000 lbs. horse consuming 20 lbs. of dry matter daily...
In light work would consume 15 lbs. of hay a day.
In moderate work would consume 12 lbs. of hay a day.
In heavy work would consume 10 lbs. of hay a day
Remember, these are only estimates and you should take your horse's energy requirements and body type into account when determining feed.
How long does my horse need to be at pasture?
In the wild, horses meet their energy requirements from grazing. Horses that have 24/7 access to a well-maintained, quality pasture should be able to meet their roughage needs. If they are in hard work or are a hard keeper, they may still need extra hay and grain each day. Most horse owners do not have access to enough high-quality pasture to keep their horses out grazing every day. However, some may choose to put their horses out on grass for a few hours each day to improve their horse's mental health and save a little money on hay. In that case, it may be important to know how much grass the horse is consuming so their daily intake can be adjusted.
In general, horses can consume 1-2 lbs. of dry matter an hour on pasture. That means for every hour your horse spends on quality pasture, you can subtract about 1.5 lbs of hay from their ration. Use caution when adjusting for grass consumption and be sure to keep a close eye on your horse's condition to ensure they are not gaining or losing weight.