"The Bit - Straight from the horse's mouth"
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The basics of nutrition are simple, your horse requires a certain amount of water, energy, protein etc on a daily basis and Vitamins and Minerals over a longer time period, and this is what we feed for.

Consume more energy/calories than you need and you will put on weight and develop health issues, consume too little and you will lose weight and develop other health issues. Easy peasy.

In the wild horses are forage feeders, meaning they eat little and often and this includes poor grass, rich grass, occasional fruit, and herbs and shrubs. Their body weight will fluctuate through the seasons and they will walk over 15km a day! Yet we as owners get very concerned over diet, often worrying about things like colic, tying up, ulcers etc, and this is mainly because of the way we have domesticated and bred horses. They eat what they are given, usually twice a day.  They are provided with only 1 or 2 forages (hay/grass), and they have limited access to this forage and/or other food. They are also wormed and vaccinated routinely, affecting their digestive tracts. However, all of this is often because a domesticated horse has more expectations placed upon it exercise wise than wild horses. 
How much does your horse weigh?

Before looking at Nutrition, it is important that you find out how much your horse weighs, this means you can see how exactly the diet may need to be altered in association with any health issues. You can work this out in several ways. Taking your horse to a horse weighbridge or use a weight tape are easiest.  Knowing your horse’s weight is essential if a correct feeding level is to be achieved. Research found that over 50% of owners under estimated their horse’s body condition score, believing their horse was “thinner” than they really were. It is good horse husbandry to fat score your horse regularly. You can easily find fat score sheets online.
 
We all aim for good nutrition but often forget the simple rules for feeding our beloved horses; this may be due to time, facilities, and opportunities.
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Forage:
  • Fibre is an essential dietary requirement for any horse, providing a source of calories, maintaining gut health and producing heat through fermentation.
  • As a guide, a horse should look to receive 2% of their bodyweight in forage each day to ensure healthy digestive function.
  • Forage should be the basis for all horses diets, ideally on the floor, at all times or if your horse is on the fat side, soaked and or in a slow feeder net. It doesn’t have to be highly nutritious but the action of chewing forage aids teeth and digestion.
  • Too low forage intake can lead to colic, ulcers and stereotypical behaviours.
  • Forages are digested in the hindgut where there are lots of specific microorganisms ready and waiting to put it to good use! Fibre contributes to a healthy GI tract as well as increased water content, vital for horses in work.
  • Forage should be provided before work to line the stomach, preventing splash back of stomach acid, which will lead to ulcers.
 
Cereals:
  • For horses in work additional energy may be required in the form of hard feed.
  • Cereals should not be introduced too quickly and must be given in addition to hay.
  • Cereals don’t cause issues if fed correctly; horses should be kept on the minimal amount of cereals for its workload. The risk of Colic and Laminitis is increased when starch reaches the hind gut without being fully digested, meaning although it is needed for horses in work to replenish energy stores, it must be given in moderation
  • All cereals will have a differing protein level; a horse in moderate work requires 10-12% of its diet as protein. Hay has around 4-8%, Haylage 4-14%, Competition feeds 12-14%, Stud feeds 14-16%. Excess protein however can lead to a very mucky, wet stable so must be fed for your horses weight and work load.
 
Fats and Oils:
  • Fats and Oils are great for the skin and coat, for horses that struggle to keep on weight, have a poor/picky diet and are prone to tying up, however these should be given in moderation like everything else
  • Fat horses are not happy horses!! Imagine if you had to lug round all that extra weight AS WELL as rider and tack?!
 
Electrolytes:
  • Provide electrolytes, not just before and after competition, but daily if you horse is in more than light work. Horses loose over 10g of electrolytes in every Litre of sweat, and many diets are low in sodium, this is easily remedied by the addition of 25g a day of normal salt or Lo salt.