This guide is about how you feed: how to build a ration around forage, when supplements make sense, and how to prevent colic and overweight. How many kilos of hay, concentrate feed, and water your horse needs is covered in the guide on how much to feed your horse.
A horse's stomach is built to digest small amounts of forage throughout the day, not to process two large meals. Anyone who takes that principle as a starting point already has the basis of a healthy ration in place.
Forage as the Basis
Forage (hay or haylage) is the cornerstone of the ration. You work out how much to give per day with the guide on how much to feed your horse. Here the focus is on how you give it.
More important than the exact kilos is how it's spread out. The stomach continuously produces gastric acid, even when there's nothing to digest. Long periods with an empty stomach increase the risk of gastric ulcers and restless behavior. Spread the forage over as many feeding times as possible, or provide unlimited access (ad libitum). A small-mesh hay net stretches out eating time without increasing the amount.
Pay attention to quality:
- No mold or musty smell: moldy hay causes respiratory and digestive problems.
- Low dust: dusty hay can be lightly dampened; for sensitive airways, a short soak helps.
- Good structure: grass cut too young and short is protein-rich and low in fiber; older, longer hay fills the stomach better.
What hay contains in energy and protein you can't see from the outside. A hay or grass analysis shows it; your equine nutritionist or veterinarian can tailor a ration to that.
Concentrate Feed: How to Give It
Concentrate feed is a supplement, not a replacement for forage. It provides extra energy and protein for horses that genuinely work hard. How much concentrate feed fits which workload is covered in the guide on how much to feed your horse. Two principles apply to how you give it:
- Keep portions small. The stomach is relatively small, so split concentrate feed into several small servings a day instead of one large scoop.
- Give forage first or together. Feed forage before or together with the concentrate feed, so it's absorbed more slowly.
Too much concentrate feed causes not just overweight but also wired, "hot" behavior, and raises the risk of digestive problems. Too little leads to weight loss and a drop in condition in hard-working horses. The right balance differs per horse.
Supplements: When to Use Them, When Not To
On good forage and a suitable basic diet, many horses don't need extensive supplements. A supplement can make sense if the ration demonstrably lacks something, or in a specific situation. Common examples:
| Supplement | When it's considered |
|---|---|
| Mineral and vitamin balancer | When forage doesn't cover basic needs (shown by analysis) |
| Electrolytes | After heavy exertion or heavy sweating, for example in the heat |
| Biotin | For weak hoof quality, over a longer period |
| Joint support | For older or more heavily worked horses, in consultation |
Not every product does what the packaging promises, and more isn't better. Some substances can counteract each other or cause harm at high doses. If in doubt, consult your veterinarian or an equine nutritionist before stacking supplements, especially if a horse is already on medication or a special diet.
Preventing Colic and Overweight
Colic (abdominal pain) is an umbrella term for a range of digestive problems and can be life-threatening. Diet is one of the factors you can influence yourself:
- Change gradually. Build up new feed, different hay, or a switch to spring grass over a week to ten days. Sudden changes disrupt the gut flora.
- Unlimited clean water. How much a horse drinks is covered in the guide on how much to feed your horse. Check water troughs daily and keep them frost-free in winter.
- Plenty of forage, limited concentrate feed. A fiber-rich ration with small concentrate portions puts less strain on the gut than large, starch-rich meals.
- Don't work hard right after a large concentrate feeding, and give the horse time to digest.
Overweight is the other extreme, and it creeps in easily with easy-keeping horses and little work. Too much sugar and starch (from young grass or generous concentrate portions) raises the risk of laminitis and metabolic problems such as EMS (Equine Metabolic Syndrome) in sensitive horses and ponies. How to use the body condition score to see whether the weight is right is covered in the guide on how much to feed your horse. Adjust course early with more exercise and low-sugar forage rather than a strict starvation diet.
Any sudden warning sign (refusing to eat, repeatedly looking at the flank, rolling, not passing manure, lethargy) is reason to call the veterinarian. Colic is not a situation to wait out.
In Short
- Build the ration around forage and spread it across the day.
- Give concentrate feed only as far as the work requires, in small portions and together with forage.
- Add supplements with purpose, not out of habit; consult a professional if in doubt.
- Always change feed gradually and keep water available unlimited: that cuts the most risk of colic.
- Keep an eye on weight and adjust with exercise and feed, not crash diets.
The terms from this guide (hay, haylage, concentrate feed, and supplements) are explained briefly in the glossary. What your horse needs per day, you work out with the guide on how much to feed your horse.
Sources (verified September 2, 2026, sources deepened November 2, 2026): Utrecht University Veterinary Hospital: Gastric ulcers · Utrecht University Veterinary Hospital: Equine metabolic syndrome (EMS) · Utrecht University Veterinary Hospital: Colic · NRC Nutrient Requirements of Horses (2007) · Wageningen University & Research: CVB Table Book on Feeding Horses and Ponies (2013)
See also: How Much to Feed Your Horse · Horse Supplements: What Actually Works · Colic in Horses