How Much Grass Does My Horse Eat In A Day?

It is now a common understanding that the minimum any horse should eat to maintain a healthy digestive system is 1.5% of their body weight in forage dry matter per day. This can come from hay, grass, chaff, or even alternative fibre sources if there are dental issues.

For horses & ponies that have access to turn out being able to calculate the amount of grass that they are consuming is useful when looking at the forage intake in the diet as a whole. Research has provided the following intakes as a guide:

• 112.5gm per hour on poor grazing.
• 225gm per hour on average grazing.
• 337.5gm per hour on good grazing.
• 450gm per hour on excellent grazing.

Forage breakdown

A 500kg Horse will require 7.5kg of dry weight forage a day

• 10 hours of poor grazing will provide - 1.125kg of grass per day
• 1 scoop of chaff in each feed - 0.8kg chaff per day
• Hay in the stable - 5.575 kg per day

A 250kg Pony will require 3.75kg of dry weight forage a day

• 10 hours of poor grazing will provide - 1.125kg of grass per day
• 1 scoop of chaff between each feed - 0.4kg chaff per day
• Hay in the stable - 2.2kg per day

Pastures that are over grazed can therefore be unlikely to provide adequate forage or sufficient calories for some horses to maintain their body condition. In addition, horses that are only out for half the day will also consume closer to 1% of their body weight per day. In these situations, supplementary forage should be provided to reduce the risk of digestive issues. It is also important to note that haylage is higher in water and lower in fibre than hay. It must therefore be fed in larger quantities to provide the same level of fibre as hay.

Research has found that ponies with access to good grazing on a 24-hour period could consume up to 3.8% of their body weight per day. For good doers, this is clearly much more than the 1.5% we might be aiming for to promote a good body condition! Restricting their intake via the use of strip grazing, muzzling or reduced turnout reduced this average down to 2-2.5%.

For further tips on managing fibre intake in good doers please take a look at our weight management page where our nutritional team have provided top tips for extending eating times.

NEED MORE GUIDANCE?

If you would like any advice for your horse, please feel free to contact our nutritional team on 01622 718487 or fill out our Feed Advice Form.