Good Feed Guide
How much does your horse weigh?
You can work this out in several ways. Either take your horse to a public weighbridge; visit a yard which has a horse weigher; use a weight tape; or use the formula below as a guide. Calculating approximate bodyweight using body length and girth measurement:
Measure the horses girth, and it’s length (from point of shoulder to point of buttock) and use the following calculation to give an approximate figure for bodyweight. This is the same calculation used by most weight tapes – they just do the hard work for you!
The table below is an easy method of estimating weight as you only need to know the height of the horse, but it is the least accurate. It does not take into account the condition and build of a particular horse.
How much to feed your horse?
Your horse or pony should be fed according to bodyweight, not height. Do check your horse’s condition regularly and adjust the amounts fed as necessary. As a guide, you should be able to run your hand across your horse’s ribcage and feel his ribs, but not see them.
Good quality forage should be fed to form the majority of the horse’s diet, or at the very least a minimum of 40% of the diet on a dry matter basis. This is only a guide as to how much to feed – all recommendations should be adapted for variations in individual horses.
Suggested DAILY AMOUNTS of concentrate feed.
In the wild, the horses’ natural diet contains a high percentage of moisture as they would mainly eat grass. We always recommend that any concentrate feed should be dampened with at least an equal amount of water before feeding. Research suggests that by dampening feed in this way you can reduce the risk of both choke and colic incidents.
