Did you know?

1. The dual functions of hay: it gives the horse its nutrients, and it keeps the horse busy.

2. In cold weather, horses that eat hay generate more body heat than those that are fed concentrates.

3. When a horse eats hay, it produces more saliva. This, in turn, lessens the horse’s risk of impaction colic.

4. If a horse loses its water source, it will stop eating. So if your horse stops eating, the first thing you should do is ensure the horse has a fresh, clean, drinking water supply.

5. As a general guideline, 1.26 grams of crude protein per kilogram of body weight is enough for an adult horse for maintenance metabolism.

6. A guideline for feeding: horses should eat between 1.5 to 3 percent of their body weight in feed each day.

7. An adult horse (at maintenance) should be eating 50 to 100 percent hay in their diet.

8. The horse’s energy requirements increase due to work load, cold weather, physical fitness and level of fatigue.

9. Any change in the horse’s diet should be done gradually, over a period of two weeks or more.

10. High fat diets (over 2 to 3.5 percent fat) are beneficial to horses doing high-speed activities, older horses to prevent them losing condition, and lactating mares (as they will produce milk with a higher fat content).

11. Horses eating low amounts of hay are more susceptible to colic and founder.

12. Grains are a perfect supplement to hay, because hay has calcium and grains have phosphorus.

13. It is important that the horse's body condition score (BCS, Henneke et al., 1983) is consistenly monitored for changes.