5 steps to feeding success

By Dr. Stephanie Wood (Ph.D., PgDip., BSc (Hons), RNutr, R. Anim. Tech.) 

 

Feeding horses seems to have become extremely complicated and can make deciding what to feed a scary task. Internet searches of what horse’s need and different feed options available yield millions of results, but not all of the information will be suitable for your particular animal, and it may even be incorrect and potentially harmful. The vast amount of information can also cloud our vision of what we were trying to achieve in the first place, leading us to look at specific individual nutrients or ingredients whilst we forget about the horse, pony, or donkey as a whole.

These 5 steps to developing a feeding programme focus on identifying the types of feeds and forages your horse, pony, or donkey requires, and on making sure that the feeding programme you put in place is achievable and sustainable. I believe that the key to feeding success is keeping it as simple and consistent as possible.

 

Step 1: Identify the overall aim and goal of the feeding programme

Knowing what you are aiming for the feeding programme to achieve is essential to keeping it focused on meeting the needs of your horse, pony, or donkey. It could be that your horse is underweight and the primary aim is for them to gain weight and increase their fat stores, or your elderly pony may be retiring from ridden exercise and you know that they are prone to weight gain, so you need a feeding programme that keeps them trim but also supports their mobility. The important thing is to identify all the things you need the feeding programme to do and to set a goal as a target. Goal setting is important as it allows you to evaluate how suitable the feeding programme is and if changes to the types of feeds or quantities of feed, are needed.

I recommend that you assess and record the following, so you know what you are aiming for:

·       Fat stores – feel their crest, ribs and pelvis to check if they have too little, too much, or just the right amount of fat. This tells you if they need to reduce their fat stores, increase their fat stores, or maintain their current level, and if their diet needs to contain more, less or the same amount of energy. The British Horse Society have excellent guides on how to fat score if you aren’t sure how to do this.  

·       Health – do they have any health problems that you need to consider when deciding what to feed? Some health issues can benefit from higher intakes of certain nutrients (e.g. biotin and zinc to support hoof health) or from avoiding certain nutrients or feed types (e.g. those with metabolic conditions benefit from lower starch and sugar meals). Aim to be critical of their health so you can maximise the effectiveness of the feeding programme.

·       Exercise level / performance – consider their current exercise level and how they are performing. Will the amount of exercise they do change in duration or intensity, and are you happy with their performance? They may lack energy in the latter part of the cross country or fun ride, or maybe they become over excited and fizzy. Both of these scenarios may benefit from changes in energy source, alongside appropriate training and fitness regimes of course.

·       Behaviour – do they exhibit any behaviours that indicate they are not thriving on their current diet or management regime? Once you identify the behaviours and situations in which they are exhibited, this can help identify potential triggers and potential ways that diet and feeding practices can help (e.g. ensuring they have access to multiple forage types when travelling or stabling away from home can support horses who get loose droppings after a journey).

For each aim identified set a goal so you can measure the effectiveness of the feeding programme. This could be a numerical goal such as losing or gaining so many kilos within 3 months, or a more general goal like stronger, healthier hooves, or more relaxed behaviour. 

 

Step 2: Review your facilities and resources

Reviewing the facilities and resources you have available is a critical step in creating an effective feeding programme. This is often an overlooked consideration despite it being one of the major factors that influences how sustainable and consistent your feeding regime will be. If your own work or family commitments limit the time you have for being at the yard from Monday to Friday, or the yard routine only permits twice a day, there needs to be consideration of how to prolong eating time to enable trickle feeding between feeds. Another very common practice that only becomes an issue in winter is the need to soak forage. If there is limited drainage or water supply, freezing weather can either prevent soaking in the first place, or create lethal conditions as drained water freezes. In such circumstances feeding haylage may be a suitable forage choice. Things to consider when deciding what is practical include, but are not limited to:

1. Can your horse, pony, or donkey be fed as an individual or must they be fed as part of a group? 
2. How many times a day can you realistically provide forage and feed? 
3. Do you need soak forage or feed? If so, is this possible all year round?
4. What is your budget for feed and forage? 
5. Can you purchase the forage and feeds that you want to easily? 
6. How much can you store without it spoiling? this applies to feed and forage
7. If feeding more than one animal, can they be fed the same?
8. Can you buy in bulk with others and split the cost?

By answering these questions you are more likely to select forages and feeds that match your horse, pony, or donkey’s requirements and you can consistently purchase and store. This reduces the likelihood of having to make sudden dietary changes which can lead to digestive upset.

 

 

Figure 1: Ensure you can correctly store the feed and forage you purchase to maximise it's shelf life and reduce the risk of respiratory irritation and digestive disturbance.

 

Step 3: Provide enough fibre and maximise chew time 

Fibre is an essential part of the equine diet as their digestive systems developed to process plants that were high in fibre but low in energy and nutrients. By eating large amounts of these low nutrient plants, horses, ponies, and donkeys are able to meet their nutritional needs. Eating such large volumes is a slow process as the fibre needs to be chewed before it can be swallowed. This chewing takes time and lead to the term trickle feeding, as small amounts of plants enter the digestive tract over long periods of time, like a trickle effect. This is also why eating is the main activity of the equine day, with horses, ponies, and donkeys spending up to 18 hours a day eating when food sources are available. This feeding strategy has not changed even though what we do with them and how we manage them has.

As such, fibre should form the largest part of what your horse, pony, or donkey eats in a day. It is recommended to feed at least 1.5% of their body weight as fibre to enable them to spend long periods if time eating and chewing, and to keep their digestive system functioning correctly. Calculating 1.5% of body weight can be challenging, so you may find it simpler and more practical to just ensure that the majority of what they are eating is providing fibre. 

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Minimum fibre requirements

Body weight ÷ 100 x 1.5 = minimum amount of fibre required per day

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Fibre is supplied in fresh grass and preserved forage such as hay, haylage, straw, chopped fibres and fibre pellets or nuts, with most horses, ponies, and donkeys consuming a combination of these options. The most suitable fibre sources will depend on their dental health and ability to chew, their respiratory health, their energy needs, fibre source availability, storage capacity, and your budget. 

·       Dental health – poor dental health due to uneven wear, or missing or loose teeth, reduces chewing ability which impacts their ability to handle and process longer forages (hay, haylage, straw). For these animals, chopped forages and fibre nuts, pellets or mashes are an excellent option. The more fibrous the forage the more chews it requires,

·       Respiratory health – for most horses, ponies, or donkeys with respiratory issues hay will need to be steamed or soaked to reduce dust and moulds that irritate the respiratory tract. Haylage provides an alternative as this tends to be less irritating to the respiratory tract, although it can be higher in energy and nutrient value making it less suitable for those with lower energy needs or who are prone to weight gain.

·       Energy needs – as fibre comprises the majority of the equine diet, it is also the main source of energy.

o   For those needing to gain weight or with greater energy demands, higher energy fibres such as alfalfa or an oil coated chaff can be fed alongside the normal hay or haylage portion.   

o   For those needing to lose weight or with lower energy requirements, low energy fibre sources are ideal as they allow larger volumes to be fed and extend chewing and eating time, without supplying excess energy. Straw is an ideal forage in these circumstances as it is very high in fibre but extremely low in energy. The higher the fibre content the more chewing a forage requires, therefore straw takes longer to chew than hay or haylage, which slows down eating. However, for these reasons straw should not be fed to those with dental issues or needing to gain weight. Straw can make up to 50% of the fibre source, although most horses, ponies, and donkeys do well on less than this. A simple way of feeding straw is to mix it in with the hay or haylage. Straw should be added to the diet gradually to give time to adjust to the greater chewing demand and for the digestive system to adjust to processing a higher fibre forage.

·       Availability, storage, and budget – how easily you can purchase and store the fibre sources you choose? If you have a limited budget or storage space you will likely want to use a local supplier as you will need to purchase regularly. In contrast, travelling longer distances to purchase larger loads of forage is more practical for those with higher budgets and greater storage capacity. Regardless of how you buy your forage, the aim is to provide consistent fibre sources and avoid sudden changes.

 

 

Figure 2: Selecting the most appropriate forage will include consideration of your horse, pony, or donkey's requirements alongside availability of the forage, its storage requirements and your budget. 

 

Step 4: Provide other nutrients and energy to meet requirements 

For horses that are not exercised, or those in light exercise, forages and/or grass can often provide enough energy and protein to meet their requirements and may even exceed those requirements (see figure 3). Variation in nutrient content of grass and forage however means that not all nutrient requirements will be met, requiring an additional source of such nutrients to be fed.

 

Figure 3: Percentage of nutrients supplied by average quality grass hay compared to requirements for a non-exercising horse. Ideally all nutrients would be supplied at 100% of requirements, however note the insufficient zinc, copper and sodium levels.

  

Vitamins and minerals can be supplied by feeding vitamin and mineral supplements, balancers, fibre feeds containing additional vitamins and minerals, or traditional concentrate feeds. Which of these options is most suitable for your horse, pony, or donkey will depend on their fat store level and exercise demands.

·       Vitamin and mineral supplements – these supplements are extremely low in energy as they contain just the vitamins and minerals and palatable base ingredients. Minerals in particular are not very tasty, so the base ingredients encourage intake. These nutrients are also required in such small quantities (many in mg/day), that feeding just vitamins and minerals would be impractical due to having to measure out such tiny quantities. Base ingredients therefore facilitate easy feeding, although the daily serving for vitamin and mineral supplements is generally very low.

·       Balancers – balancers supply protein sources alongside vitamins and minerals. They are also low in energy due to their low feeding rate (many balancers are fed at 100g product per 100kg of the animal’s body weight, e.g. 450g for a 450kg horse), making them ideal for good doers or those who are exercising and maintain their weight well. Many competition horses and ponies do well on balancers.

·       Fibre feeds with vitamins and minerals – these products are ideal for owners just wanting to feed a single product. They include chopped fibres or a fibre mash and vitamins and minerals. Often these products are described as being fortified with vitamins and minerals. There are a range of fortified fibre feeds on the market, with some being low in energy whilst others are higher in energy and more suitable for those needing to gain weight or performing more exercise. The important thing to note is that many of these fortified fibre feeds have a high feeding rate and need to be fed at this high rate to supply the right amount of vitamins and minerals. Unfortunately, these products are often under fed, meaning the animal is not being fed a balanced diet.

·       Traditional concentrate feeds – traditional feeds come in the form of mixes, nuts, pellets and mashes. They provide energy, protein, vitamins and minerals, although the levels of nutrients and energy will vary according to the purpose of the product. Light or maintenance feeds will be lower in digestible energy (DE) than feeds designed for those who are exercising at a higher intensity. This is why identifying the aim of the feeding programme is important, as it guides the type of feed to choose. Feed manufacturers work hard to develop products that provide appropriate nutrition, so selecting the feed that matches your horse, pony, or donkeys’ requirements is key to achieving feeding success.  

 

Step 5: Review regularly

Achieving feeding success is about matching the feeding programme to your horse, pony, or donkey’s requirements and providing that feed in a consistent routine that you can sustain. Monitoring how they respond to the feeding programme is the best way to assess if it meets their requirements, and you probably do this already without even realising it. Things to monitor:

• Watch them eat to check for any chewing issues or slow intake of forage and feeds
• Forage and feed waste as this can indicate dental or palatability issues, or that they are performing selective eating and only eating some of what you offer (mixes are particularly susceptible to this, resulting in certain elements of the mix being left which can unbalance the diet if it is the vitamin and mineral pellet left in the bucket)
• Fat scores every 2-4 weeks. If the aim is for a change in fat stores (gain or loss) then monitoring every 2 weeks is ideal. If the aim is to maintain current fat stores then assessing every 4 weeks is practical.
• How often are you purchasing feed and forage? Is this sustainable and are you wasting any due to poor storage?

Alongside regular monitoring, I also recommend a full assessment of the feeding programme in spring and autumn to ensure it continues to meet your horse, pony, or donkeys’ requirements and is practical for you. Spring and autumn are when the biggest changes in management, exercise, and feeding occur for most equids, so reviewing their requirements for the seasons ahead ensures you achieve feeding success. If changes are required, they should be introduced gradually to give your horse, pony, or donkey time to adjust to new feeds or a new regime.

 

 © Equine Science Academy Ltd 2025. The information contained herein is provided for information purposes only; the contents are not intended to amount to advice and you should not rely on any of the contents herein. We disclaim, to the full extent permissible by law, all liability and responsibility arising from any reliance placed on any of the contents herein. .

If you would like to check your horse, pony, or donkey’s feeding programme is suitable then take a look at the Feed Review and Nutritional Consultation services available.