Feeding Guide
Most horses should consume 1.5% to 2.5% of their bodyweight per day according to their condition and workload. The following can be used as a guide:
| Type |
Total amount to feed (forage & compound feed) |
| Overweight |
1.5% of BW |
Maintenance diet
Light exercise
Pregnant (0-8 months)
Stallion not breeding
|
2% of BW |
Pregnant (8-11 months)
Growing horses up to 24 months
Lactating mare (0-3 months)
Heavy exercise
Stallion actively breeding
Underweight
|
2.5% of BW |
This total should be divided between forage and hard feed, with forage making up at least 50% of the ration. The following can be used as a guide, but remember every horse is an individual.
| Level of Work |
Concentrate (% of total diet) |
Forage (% of total diet) |
| Maintenance |
0-20 |
80-100 |
| Light Work |
0-30 |
70-100 |
| Medium work |
30-50 |
50-70 |
| Hard work |
50-70 |
30-50 |
| Last 3 months of pregnancy |
40-50 |
50-60 |
| Lactating mare |
40-60 |
40-60 |
The following chart can be used to approximate the amount of forage to concentrate, for a horse in approximately a 30:70 (concentrate:forage) ration.
| Horse/Pony Details |
Feed Requirements |
| Approx Height (hh) |
Approx Weight (kg) |
Hard Feed per day (kg) |
Minimum forage per day (kg) |
| 10-11.3 |
150-200 |
0.5-1.0 |
2.5-3.0 |
| 12-12.3 |
300-250 |
1.0-1.5 |
3.0-3.5 |
| 13-13.3 |
300-350 |
1.5-2.0 |
4.5-5.5 |
| 14-14.3 |
400-450 |
2.0-2.5 |
6.0-6.5 |
| 15-15.3 |
500-550 |
2.5-3.0 |
7.5-8.0 |
| 16-16.3 |
550-600 |
3.0-3.5 |
8.0-9.0 |
| 17+ |
600+ |
3.5-5.0 |
9.0+ |
Since forage can vary considerably, both hard feed and forage should be weighed. Remember to weight your feed and not feed by volume as some feeds weigh more than others. The following can be used as a guide.
| |
Approx Weight |
Stubbs scoop |
Large rectangular scoop |
Small rectangular scoop |
| Slice of hay (small rectangular bale) |
2kg |
|
|
|
| Large haynet |
8kg |
|
|
|
| Bale of hay (small rectangular bale) |
20kg |
|
|
|
| Small bale of haylage |
25kg |
|
|
|
| Large bale of haylage |
200kg |
|
|
|
| Scoop of cubes |
|
1.5kg |
1.5kg |
450g |
| Scoop of mix |
|
1.0kg |
1.0kg |
300g |
| Scoop of pellet fibre blend |
|
500g |
500g |
150g |
| Scoop of chaff |
|
250g |
250g |
75g |
| Double handful of chaff |
250g |
 |
 |
 |
When feeding a balancer it is slightly different as you don’t need to feed as much to give your pony all the vitamins and minerals needed. When feeding a balancer use the following quantites. SPILLERS can be fed with ad lib forage unless the diet is being restricted.
SPILLERS GRO 'N WIN® feeding rates:
| Growing Horse - Mature body weight 500-600kg |
Mare - Approx body weight 500-600kg |
Growing Horse - Mature body weight 300-500kg |
Mare - Approx body weight 300-500kg |
| 6 months |
0.5-1kg |
Pregnant |
1-1.5kg |
6 months |
0.25-0.5kg |
Pregnant |
0.5-1kg |
| 12 months |
1-1.5kg |
Lactating (1-3 months) |
1.5-2kg |
12 months |
0.5-1kg |
Lactating (1-3 months) |
1-1.5kg |
| 12-18 months |
1-1.5kg |
Lactating (3-6 months) |
1-1.5kg |
12-18 months |
0.5-1kg |
Lactating (3-6 months) |
0.5-1kg |
| 18-24 months |
0.5-1kg |
Barren |
0.5-1kg |
18-24 months |
0.25-0.5kg |
Barren |
0.5-1kg |
Balancer rates
| Size |
Approximate Weight (kg) |
SPILLERS Balancer (grams) fed with forage only |
SPILLERS Balancer (grams) fed with compound feed |
| Hands |
cm |
| 12.2 |
128 |
200-250 |
200 |
100 |
| 13.2 |
138 |
300-350 |
300 |
150 |
| 14.2 |
148 |
400-450 |
400 |
200 |
| 15.2 |
158 |
500-550 |
500 |
250 |
| 16.2 |
166 |
600-650 |
600 |
300 |