How much to feed a horse: a practical guide with worked examples

Most feeding questions come back to one starting point: how much does your horse weigh? From there you can work out a sensible daily amount, check whether your paddock is supplying enough, and decide whether hay or hard feed needs to make up the difference. This guide uses Agriculture Victoria's published guidelines and Victoria's Code of Practice for the Welfare of Horses. The same principles apply in New Zealand, where the Code of Welfare for horses and donkeys sets minimum standards for food and water (MPI).

This is general information. Horses that are pregnant, lactating, growing, old, in hard work, or have conditions such as laminitis, insulin resistance or dental disease need a plan from your vet or a qualified equine nutritionist.

Step 1: Estimate your horse's weight

You can't feed by weight without a weight. Your options are:

• A weighbridge – the most accurate. Many vet clinics and some feed stores have one.
• A weight tape – wrapped around the girth, just behind the elbow and over the withers. Useful for tracking change over time even if it isn't exact.
• Girth and length – Agriculture Victoria gives this formula: weight (kg) = girth (cm) × girth (cm) × length (cm) ÷ 12,000 (condition scoring and weight estimation). Measure the girth just behind the elbow, running the tape straight up over the withers and around under the chest, and the length from the point of the shoulder to the point of the buttock, as in Wagner and Tyler, 2011. It is an estimate, not a weighing.
• Height and type – a rough guide only. Agriculture Victoria groups horses like this (Basic horse care):

Type	Height	Approx. weight
Pony	up to 13.5 hands	200–350 kg
Galloway	13.5–15 hands	350–500 kg
Horse	15–16.5 hands	500–650 kg
Heavy horse	16.5+ hands	650+ kg

Agriculture Victoria also explains how to measure height properly – on level ground, horse standing square and relaxed, at the highest point of the withers, allowing for shoes (condition scoring and weight estimation). See how to measure a horse's height and weight.

Step 2: Work out the daily total

Agriculture Victoria gives two closely related guides.

The everyday guide: 1–2 kg per 100 kg

For most horses, the guide is 1–2 kg of feed per 100 kg of body weight each day (Basic horse care). That works out as:

Type	Daily feed
Pony (200–350 kg)	3–7 kg
Galloway (350–500 kg)	7–10 kg
Horse (500–650 kg)	10–13 kg
Heavy horse (650+ kg)	13+ kg

For a feed budget: 1.7%

When you are planning how much hay to buy or how long a paddock will last, Agriculture Victoria recommends using 1.7% of body weight in dry feed. Horses can eat roughly 1.5–2% of their weight in dry feed (feed that is about 90% dry matter), and 1.7% is a safer figure that the horse can actually eat (Feed requirements of horses).

Worked example: a 500 kg horse × 1.7 ÷ 100 = 8.5 kg of feed a day.

Step 3: Make sure most of it is roughage

Roughage – pasture, hay and chaff – is the foundation of a horse's diet. Victoria's Code says roughage should form a significant part of the diet to provide enough bulk and fibre for the gut to work properly. Horses need at least 1% of their body weight in roughage each day, and any grain or processed feed should be added on top of that, not instead of it (Code of Practice).

For a 500 kg horse, that is a minimum of 5 kg of roughage a day.

The Code's own table of approximate minimum daily feed for adult horses shows how this plays out (Code of Practice, Table 1):

Body weight	Idle horse (maintenance)	Moderate work*
300 kg	5 kg hay	4 kg hay + 1 kg oats
400 kg	7 kg hay	5 kg hay + 3.5 kg oats
500 kg	8–9 kg hay	5.5–7.5 kg hay + 4–6 kg oats

*Moderate work in the Code means jumping, stock work or some eventing, and the hay is good-quality clover-rich pasture hay or lucerne hay. Most pleasure horses are closer to the "idle" column than they might think.

For more on hay types, see hay and forage.

Step 4: Count what the paddock provides

If your horse grazes, pasture is part of the daily total. Victoria's Code says good-quality pasture can meet the needs of most horses, except those in hard work, those with poor teeth, aged horses and lactating mares. As a rough guide, about 1 hectare (2.5 acres) of annually fertilised permanent pasture per horse should provide maintenance needs in temperate areas in normal rainfall years (Code of Practice).

Small properties rarely meet that. Agriculture Victoria also warns about the "green drought" – paddocks that look green after rain but don't actually hold enough feed (winter care). If grass is short, provide hay. Read paddock management for how to look after your grazing.

Step 5: Adjust by body condition

The amounts above are starting points. The real test is your horse's condition over the following weeks.

• Losing condition? Add more forage first. Agriculture Victoria notes that below condition score 2, a horse needs twice as much feed to gain 1 kg as it does to maintain weight, so it is cheaper to stop weight loss early (winter care).
• Gaining too much? Cut back hard feed first, use lower-energy hay, and talk to your vet about safe weight loss. Don't drop forage below the 1% minimum without veterinary advice – the Code says selective feed reduction should be done only by experienced people or under veterinary supervision (Code of Practice).

Learn to score your horse with our body condition scoring guide.

When horses need more

Agriculture Victoria lists times you may need to add supplementary feed: when a horse is worked regularly, when there isn't enough pasture, or when it is losing condition (Basic horse care). Some groups need far more:

• Lactating mares – Agriculture Victoria says a lactating mare costs 70% more to feed than a dry mare (winter care).
• Young horses – Victoria's Code notes that at six months old, horses need as much energy-rich food as an idle adult, and more protein (Code of Practice).
• Horses in work – energy needs rise with workload. The BHS Stage 2 syllabus covers adjusting feed for maintenance, light and medium work (BHS Stage 2 Care syllabus). As a guide, the University of Nebraska–Lincoln Extension puts total daily feed at about 1.5–2.5% of body weight for light work (1–3 hours a day), 1.75–2.5% for moderate work (3–5 hours) and 2–3% for intense work such as race training or polo (more than 5 hours a day). It suggests hard feed of up to 0.5% of body weight for an idle horse, and up to 1%, 1.5% and 2% for those three levels of work (UNL Extension).

Water and salt

Food is only half of it. Horses must have free access to good-quality water (Code of Practice). Victoria's Code estimates basic maintenance needs at about 52 ml per kg of body weight per day:

• Ponies (200–300 kg): 10–15 litres a day
• Light hacks (300–450 kg): 15–25 litres a day
• Thoroughbreds (450–500 kg): 25–30 litres a day

Horses in work can need two to three times as much, and needs rise with heat and humidity. Agriculture Victoria says a horse may drink 25–45 litres a day in hot weather (Basic horse care). Provide a salt lick or mineral block in the paddock. For more, see water for horses.

Feeding rules that keep horses safe

These widely taught principles appear in BHS and Pony Club syllabuses and in Victoria's Code:

• Make changes gradually to reduce the risk of digestive upsets (Code of Practice).
• Keep forage first. Hard feed is an extra, not a replacement.
• Split hard feed into small meals. Feed no more than 0.5% of body weight in hard feed at one time, which is 2.5 kg for a 500 kg horse (UNL Extension).
• Weigh feed. Check what your scoop and your hay biscuits actually weigh instead of guessing (UNL Extension).
• Avoid harmful feed such as mouldy hay, lawn clippings and poisonous plants (Code of Practice). Agriculture Victoria warns that grass clippings and many food scraps can make horses ill (Basic horse care).
• Feed off the ground in sandy areas. No-spill containers reduce the risk of sand colic and cut waste (Code of Practice).

See the rules of feeding horses for the full list.

Putting it together: two examples

Example 1 – 450 kg unclipped mare, light hacking twice a week, small paddock with little grass in winter. Daily budget at 1.7%: 450 × 1.7 ÷ 100 = about 7.7 kg. Roughage minimum at 1%: 4.5 kg. With little grass, most of the 7.7 kg will come from hay. She may need no hard feed at all if she holds condition. Check her score every two to four weeks.

Example 2 – 300 kg pony, good pasture in spring, tends to get fat. Budget at 1.7%: about 5.1 kg. Spring pasture may give him far more than that. The risk here is too much feed, not too little – see laminitis and grass sugar and laminitis. Ask your vet about restricting grazing safely.

Need hay or feed? Find feed stores near you on horse.work. For a tailored ration, find an equine vet near you.

FAQ

How much hay does a horse eat per day?

A common planning figure is 1.7% of body weight in dry feed, which is 8.5 kg for a 500 kg horse (Agriculture Victoria). How much of that must be hay depends on how much pasture is available.

What is the minimum roughage a horse needs?

Victoria's Code of Practice says horses need at least 1% of their body weight in roughage daily, with any grain added on top (Code of Practice).

Does my horse need hard feed?

Not necessarily. Many horses in light work hold condition on pasture and hay. Hard feed is used when forage alone can't meet energy needs, such as for horses in harder work, lactating mares or horses that struggle to hold weight.

How much water does a horse drink?

A horse may drink 25–45 litres a day in hot weather (Agriculture Victoria), and horses in work can need two to three times their maintenance amount (Code of Practice).

How much does it cost to feed a horse per month?

It depends on your pasture, hay prices and your horse's needs. Start with the daily amount above, multiply by 30, and price it with your local feed store. See the real cost of owning a horse.

Can I feed my horse lawn clippings?

No. Lawn mower clippings are listed among harmful feeds in Victoria's Code of Practice (Code of Practice).