| Nutritional
diet requirements of a horse are determined by its body weight, age, activity
level, reproductive state, environmental conditions, growth rate, etc. Mature
horses have relatively low protein requirements and generally require feed that
is high in energy. Younger horses need feed that is high in protein to support
growth. The basic horse food consists of hay and pasture, so good care is very
much essential for horses. The goal of feeding horses should be to provide sufficient
quality and quantity of calories and other nutritional needs for your horse's
activities.
 Expensive
Diets Aren't Good Diets
Concerns of nutrition-related diseases seen in
horses are secondary to concerns of dietary imbalance and overfeeding. Lack of
feed is seldom a problem. Overfeeding, and supplement enthusiasm, create many
nutritional problems: it is not unusual for owners to spend a great deal of money
on supplements and forget that the basis of a good diet for healthy horses is
roughage. Hays and roughage generally come in four forms: legumes, grasses, cereal
grain hays and residuals from food processing (e.g. sugar beet pulp). Hay Quality
should be free of mold. It should be leafy with fine stems, as well as soft and
pliable to the touch. Increased stem thickness often indicates older plants that
have less digestible content. Color is least important. The outer portion of the
bale should be bright green or yellow while the inside portions should be bright
green. The hay should not be brown. A brown color often indicates heat damage
from a high moisture content. Your nose is a good quality indicator. Hay should
smell fresh and fragrant. If it doesn't it may be lacking essential vitamins,
including Vitamin A and E.  Alfalfa
Hay: Alfalfa is by far the most commonly fed legume. Its high nutritional
density per acre, and its relative ease of cultivation, accounts for its popularity.
Alfalfa often contains twice the protein, three times the calcium, and up to six
times the amount of magnesium of grass. In general, good-quality alfalfa is all
the diet most horses need. But alfalfa can be a troublesome forage for the pregnant
mare's fetus or the growing foal.
Grass
Hay: Grass hays can vary from mixes to nearly single species crops. Grass
hay species include: timothy, blue, orchard, Bermuda and many other grasses. They
tend to have more phosphorous relative to calcium and less protein content than
alfalfa hay. Cereal
Grain Hay: Cereal grain hays include oat and wheat hays. They are more challenging
to feed and harvest consistently. A few days difference in harvesting time can
greatly affect the energy content of these hays. If the seed is lost, these hays
become straws.
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