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Determine the weight and work level of your horse. To find out how much your horse weighs, you can purchase a weight tape (a special Answers.com that goes around your horses barrel). Weight tapes are available at most tack and feed stores. While weight tapes are not totally accurate, they are good enough for this application. You will also need to determine how often your horse is worked, and for how long.

Never worked = maintenance, 1-3 times a week for 30-60 minutes = light work, over 3 times a week or for more than 60 minutes a day = moderate to high work. Additionally horses that are growing, pregnant, lactating (nursing a baby), used for breeding, horses that live outside in cold weather or senior horses will have higher nutritional needs.

Step 2

Horses that are rarely ridden or only used lightly will need to eat about 1.5 to 2 percent of their body weight each day. EXAMPLE - for an average 1000 pound horse that is ridden 2 days a week, that will mean feeding 15 to 20 pounds of food a day. Usually a horse that is not worked hard will only need hay, but occasionally these horses will need a pound or two of grain in addition to the hay. Horses that are worked moderately will usually need 2.0 to 2.5 percent of their body weight - for a 1000 pound horse that will be 20 to 25 pounds of food, and 1-4 pounds of that food might be grain. A horse that is used heavily or for breeding might require as much as 20 to 30 pounds of food a day, including 5 to 8 pounds of grain. No matter how much you feed your horse per day, you should always break in up into 2-3 smaller meals per day, as horses are grazers and they are used to eating small, frequent meals.

Step 3

The various types of hay and grain are too numerous to cover here, but your local feed store will be happy to show you what they carry and give you suggestions. As you start you horse on a new feeding plan, always switch foods gradually, adding a little more of the new food each day and a little less of the old food. This will prevent your horse from colicking or going off his food. Usually it will take 4 to 6 weeks to see results in your horse. If you are feeding you horse an adequate amount of food and he still isn't gaining weight (or loosing weight) you will need to check for other issues such as health, dental, and social issues.

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14y ago
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Q: You have to feed your horse 6 pound of feed a day How many quarts is that?
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