Articles - Horse Care

In this time of financial crisis (I still believe it is a crisis, no matter what our Australian politicians are saying!), it might be difficult to feed your horse. However, I also believe that there are enough cheap alternative not to let a horse starve.

So I thought I'll see if I can come up with some cheap options. Of course, the best option would be to have a good doer who can live on the smell of an oil rag like my Lily, but it is not always the case!




First of all, lets review some fundamental facts:

• A horse at rest consumes about 2% of his body weight to survive. This means that a 600kg horse eats 12kg of food a day. This includes forage, pasture and hard feed.
• A horse in its natural environment will graze around 20 hours a day
• The amount of food a horse needs is linked to its activity level, meaning that higher levels of exercise require more food
• The amount of concentrates (grains, pellets, bran etc) in a ration must be matched with an equal volume of chaff
• If feeding grains, a maximum of 500g/100kg of body weight can be given a day and should be divided into two serves, one serve in the morning, one in the afternoon
• The main feed source of horses is grass
• Thoroughbreds are hard to keep in condition and no matter how good the grass is, they are likely to require extra feed
• Unless the pasture has been improved, it is likely that it will not provide enough nutrients to the horse (especially if you have one like the above)
• Plenty of fresh water must be provided at all time. Horses, depending on their breed, weight, weather and activity, drink between 20-50 litres/day
• Horses fed dry hay and grain will drink, on average, 3 litres of water per kilo of hay.

So assuming that your horse has no underlying conditions such as kidney or liver diseases, founder etc, is an adult under 18 years of age, here is a list of feed stuff that are economical.

• White chaff (essential): depending where you buy it, it varies between $24-$30/30kg bag, $0.80-$1/kg. Since you only need to give an equal volume of chaff, you will likely give less than 500g (average $0.45)
• Lucerne chaff (essential): depending where you buy it, it varies between $24-$37/30kg bag, $0.80-$1.23/kg. It is a good idea to mix lucerne chaff with white chaff at a ration of 50:50 if your horse is on the thin side, or 70:30 if he is on the heavy side, and none if he is in excellent condition. So if feeding at 50:50 and the volume of 2 ice-cream containers (around 600g chaff), on average it is $0.30 for the white chaff and $0.31 for the lucerne chaff
• Bran: $15-$17/30kg bag, $0.50-$0.57/kg. Very cheap, however do not exceed more than 300g/day as it is very high in phosphorus and binds calcium. (average $0.17)
• Whole oats or steam flake barley: around $15/20kg bag, $0.75/kg. If giving 500g, it costs around $0.37
• Cooked rice: around $20/20kg, $1/kg. You only feed a cup of cooked rice so it is about $0.20
• Copra: $13-$15/20kg bag, $0.65-$0.75/kg. Better be fed wet as it swells. Can feed up to 2kg/day (average $1.40). Excellent to fatten up skinny horses.
• Pony pellets: $10/20kg bag, $0.50/kg. This is personally not my favourite type of food, but in case of crisis, it is cheap and will provide food for your horse. Follow feeding guide from manufacturer.
• Lucerne or grassy hay: depending on the quality and the season, it varies from $8-$20+ a bale. It is worth getting your hay from the farmers as you will pay half the price than at the produce store. On average, a bale is around 30kg, therefore around $0.50/kg if the bale is $15. A biscuit is roughly 2kg, $1
• Dolomite: if you can't afford supplements, you should at least provide some calcium in the form of dolomite. $12/5kg, $2.4/kg (that's the expensive one!) Only give 25g/day, which is around $0.01!

If we were to design a cheap ration for a 500kg horse who is paddocked 24 hours/day and ridden twice a week, average doer, we could, potentially feed him the following:

• 500kg x 2%: 10kg of feed/day.
• Lets assume that your horse grazes in an average paddock and consume about 5kg/day of grass, leaving us with a gap of 5kg of food to complement his regime
• 1kg of copra (4 x 250ml cup): $0.70
• 500g lucerne chaff (1 ice-cream container): $0.50
• 500g white chaff (1 ice-cream container): $0.45
• 300g steam flake barley (2 x 250ml cup): $0.23
• 300g bran (2 x 250ml cup): $0.17
• 400g pony pellets (2 x 250ml cup): $0.25
• 1 biscuit of hay (2kg): $1
• 25 g of dolomite (1 tablespoon): $0.01
• TOTAL weight of food: 5kg

TOTAL Costs: $3.31/DAY

This ration should be halved and fed twice a day.

Of course you can adapt and swap ingredients and come up with something cheaper. It is just an indication of what is available for your horse and affordable.

Please note that if your horse has underlying conditions, his diet will require modification and you should consult your vet for advice.