If there’s one principle nearly every equine nutritionist agrees on, it’s this: forage comes first. A horse’s gut is built to process a steady trickle of fiber all day, not big meals of grain. Get the hay right and most of the rest of feeding falls into place.
Here’s how to build a program around forage — and figure out when (and whether) you actually need to add anything.
Horses evolved grazing 16+ hours a day. Their digestive system depends on near-constant fiber to keep things moving and to buffer stomach acid. Skimp on forage and you invite ulcers, colic and stable vices. As a rule of thumb, a horse eats around 1.5–2% of its bodyweight in forage daily — for a 1,000-lb horse, that’s roughly 15–20 lbs of hay. Use our Hay & Forage Calculator to get your own horse’s specific daily range.
You can learn a lot by eye and hand: good hay is green-ish, smells sweet, is free of dust and mold, and isn’t full of coarse stems or weeds. But looks only go so far — a hay analysis tells you the actual protein, sugar and mineral content. For easy keepers, metabolic horses or anyone feeding a lot of one hay source, it’s well worth the small lab fee.
Many horses in light work need little more than good hay plus a vitamin-mineral balancer to fill nutritional gaps. Add concentrated feed when forage alone can’t meet energy needs — hard-working horses, hard keepers, seniors, broodmares. The mistake is reaching for the grain scoop by default; start with forage and add only what the horse actually needs.
The equine gut hates surprises. Any change — new hay, more grain, a different supplement — should be phased in over a week or more. Sudden changes are a classic colic trigger. Consistency, day to day, is genuinely one of the kindest things you can do for your horse’s digestion.
Roughly 1.5–2% of bodyweight per day — about 15–20 lbs for a 1,000-lb horse. Adjust for workload, weight and whether pasture is part of the picture.
Not always, but it’s valuable if you feed a lot of one hay, have an easy keeper or metabolic horse, or want to balance the diet precisely. It’s a small cost for real clarity.
Many can thrive on good forage plus a vitamin-mineral balancer. Grain becomes necessary mainly when energy demands outstrip what forage provides.
Over at least a week, ideally longer for big changes. Gradual transitions protect the gut and help prevent colic.
Related: how much a bale of hay costs.
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Roughly 1.5–2% of bodyweight per day — about 15–20 lbs for a 1,000-lb horse. Adjust for workload, weight and whether pasture is part of the picture.
Not always, but it's valuable if you feed a lot of one hay, have an easy keeper or metabolic horse, or want to balance the diet precisely. It's a small cost for real clarity.
Many can thrive on good forage plus a vitamin-mineral balancer. Grain becomes necessary mainly when energy demands outstrip what forage provides.
Over at least a week, ideally longer for big changes. Gradual transitions protect the gut and help prevent colic.
