The proper nutrition, coupled with the right conditioning for the discipline, causes one to have a healthy horse. If there is something lacking in the diet then the body cannot function at its peak and therefore problems arise not only in the physical realm but also in the behavioral realm. Many times I have typed out the general guidelines for feeding horses for those asking questions. It is really quite simple and anyone should be able to use this for a baseline then alter the diet according to their own horse's personal dietary needs. Follow along ...
For every 100# of live body weight of the horse, one should feed 2 - 2 1/2# of TOTAL feed during a 24 hour time span. This is for the average horse in average work.
Take a 1200 pound Quarter Horse such as my own (he's 16 hh) who is worked regularly 2 - 3 times a week. His teeth are fine. His overall care and management is fine. He has no vices other than cribbing which is controlled with a collar. So ... we have a normal, 1200 horse. At 2 1/2# per 100# of weight I figure he needs 30# of TOTAL FEED, that means grain and hay, per day. I feed 3X a day so divide the 30# by 3. So now we have 10# of total feed being fed 3x a day. Now, because he is ridden moderately he needs grain to supplement hay. If he were not worked, he would get 80% hay and 20% grain during the day or perhaps all hay. But in moderate work 75% of his total nutrients should come from HAY. The other should come from GRAIN ... preferably a "complete" feed or straight oats, the most digestible of all grains for horses.
Now we have to figure the percentages out to weight.
Follow this: 30# total feed X 25% = 7 1/2#. OK, he gets 7 1/2# of grain a day. Now divide that into 3 ... This equals 2 1/2# each feeding of GRAIN. So, now we have to see how much 1 quart of complete grain weighs. The grain I feed weighs
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