How Many Calories Does My Horse Require?

As the seasons change it is inevitable that in many cases, changes to our horse’s diet are not too far behind. Shorter day lengths and slower grass growth in the winter months can be a blessing for owners who are constantly watching their horse’s waistline, whilst causing a headache for those who have horses who struggle to hold their weight.

Calories in the diet are referred to as energy, and dietary energy provides the horse with the fuel required for the work that they are doing, daily bodily functions and for their weight maintenance. Energy (calories) from the diet can be sourced from various different feedstuffs, including both concentrates and forage.

The National Research Council has provided the below estimated energy requirements for a horse per day, depending on their exercise level.

At Saracen Horse Feeds we regularly submit forage for analysis in order to better understand what a typical forage source might provide on a daily basis. On average, 1kg of hay will provide 9.6MJ/kg, haylage will provide 10.6MJ/kg with grass providing up to 11MJ/kg.

If a 500kg horse was eating the recommended minimum 1.5% of their body weight (7.5kg) in hay alone, this would therefore supply approximately 72MJ per day. For good doers, this is above the suggested requirement per day, and any excess energy would then be stored as fat. It is easy to see that in some cases, forage alone really can be enough to cause a horse to become overweight.

Choosing a concentrate feed.

There are of course many variables that will influence a horses energy requirements in addition to exercise, such as age, health status and metabolism. As with most things, there is no ‘one rule that fits all,’ and so it is important to regularly condition score your horse to ensure they are maintaining an optimum weight. If forage alone is not sufficient to maintain your horse’s weight, then additional concentrates may be required.

When choosing a conditioning feed, you may need to consider how much time the horse will be spending in their stable, temperament and how much work they are likely to be doing. The overall energy (calorie) content of the feed is of course identified by the Digestible Energy (DE), which can be found on the nutritional label of the feed. Lower energy feeds have a DE of approximately 10MJ, whereas conditioning feeds are around 13MJ. The feeding rate of the product must also be considered, as low intake feeds such as balancers will be fed at much smaller quantities.

For horses that can be quite sharp, looking for a conditioning feed that is high in digestible energy but lower in starch can be recommended. ‘Super Fibre,’ ingredients such as sugar beet, alfalfa and soya hulls will provide as much energy as some cereal grains, however these ingredients provide energy by slow-release energy sources such as fibre and oil which will help to manage more excitable temperaments.

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If you would like any further information, please feel free to contact our nutritional team on 01622 718487 or email info@saracenhorsefeeds.co.uk