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To elaborate the ration of your horse or your pony is essential to ensure its well-being and its good health. This ration is mainly composed of green or dry fodder, added to concentrated food like cereals. This ration covers the horse’s dietary requirements in terms of energy, proteins, minerals and vitamins.

What elements should be considered when composing your horse’s ration?

To compose your horse’s ration, you must consider its body condition, its feeding behavior and its physiological situation. Indeed, the necessary daily intake varies according to the sex and age of your horse.

 

Your horse’s lifestyle

For a diet adapted to your horse, you must take into account its lifestyle to compose its ration. For example, does your horse live on pasture? If so, with how many other horses? Does he have easy access to food? Some dominant horses may prevent other members of the herd from accessing feed. What is the quality of the grass available in the pasture (this may change depending on the season)? Is hay available for your horse if there is not enough grass (or quality)? If so, what is the quality of the hay? For example, food can be scarce in the summer when grass is poorer. It will therefore be important to supplement your horse’s diet.

For horses living in a stall, other questions will arise, notably the nature of the bedding. If a horse lives on shavings, it will need a larger feed ration, especially forages. If he lives on straw, his forage needs will be partially provided. The other issue will be the quantity and quality of hay. Ideally, a horse living in a stall should have unlimited hay. But this is not always possible because many boarding facilities do not offer it. On the other hand, if the hay is of poor quality and / or in limited quantity, it will be necessary to increase the ration of your horse in concentrate so that it benefits from the quantity of nutrients necessary for its good health.

Select the right feed for
your horse in 3 steps

01

What do you have at the stable?

02

Select your horse's activity

03

Proposed Products

Your horse’s activity

To calculate your horse’s ration, you should also consider his daily activity level. If your horse does not work, or very rarely, a forage ration will surely be sufficient. If your horse works a few hours a week (rides or light work sessions), it can be considered light work. However, if he works every day and follows a training program, it will be an intense work. Therefore, you will need to adjust your horse’s diet so that he is ready for competition. The ration should be able to meet all his energy needs.

How can you be sure that the ration given to your horse every day will meet his nutritional needs? To which volume of food corresponds the daily energy expenditure of your horse? Royal Horse helps you to answer these questions, thanks to its decision support tool “Composing the ration of your horse”.

For more information, you can also consult our articles dedicated to the feeding of horses in our Advice section.

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