Planning a Balanced Diet for Your Horse

Planning a balanced diet for your horse is one of the most important parts of good horse management. The right diet helps support condition, energy, topline, gut health, hoof quality, coat shine and overall wellbeing. However, with so many feeds, supplements, balancers and hay options available, it can be difficult to know where to start.

A balanced diet does not need to be complicated. For most horses, the foundation should be simple: plenty of good-quality forage, clean water, adequate salt, and a feed plan that suits the individual horse’s workload, body condition, age, health needs and living environment.

Start with Forage First

Forage should form the foundation of every horse’s diet. Horses are grazing animals, designed to eat small amounts of fibre throughout the day. Pasture, hay and chaff all help support digestive health and provide the bulk of the horse’s daily intake.

As a general guide, most horses should receive around 1.5–2% of their body weight per day in forage. For a 500kg horse, this equals approximately 7.5–10kg of forage daily. This may include pasture, hay and chaff combined.

The type of forage matters too. Some horses do well on meadow hay and rhodes hay, while others may need higher protein options such as lucerne or oaten hay depending on their condition and workload. Horses prone to weight gain, laminitis or metabolic issues may require lower sugar forage and careful pasture management. Performance horses, growing horses, broodmares or older horses may need more nutrient-dense forage to help meet their requirements.

If possible, hay testing can be useful, especially for horses with specific dietary needs. It can help identify the protein, energy, sugar and mineral levels in the forage, which makes balancing the rest of the diet much easier.

Consider Your Horse’s Workload

A horse’s energy needs depend heavily on workload. A spelling horse or lightly ridden pony will usually require far less energy than a horse in full work, competition, breeding or growth.

Before adding hard feed, ask what the horse actually needs. Is the horse underweight, losing condition or lacking energy? Or is it holding weight easily on pasture and hay alone? Many easy keepers do not need large amounts of hard feed, but they may still require vitamins and minerals to balance their diet.

For horses in heavier work, extra energy may be needed. This can come from a range of sources, including fibre-based feeds, oils, fat supplements or carefully selected concentrates. The best choice depends on the horse’s temperament, digestive health, workload and body condition.

Some horses become fizzy on grain-based feeds, while others struggle to maintain weight without additional calories. In these cases, feeds based on digestible fibre and oil may be useful options, as they can help provide energy without relying heavily on starch.

Balance Vitamins and Minerals

Even when a horse has plenty of pasture or hay, the diet may still be lacking in important vitamins and minerals. Common nutrients to consider include calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, copper, zinc, selenium, iodine, vitamin E and salt.

Minerals are important for bone health, muscle function, coat quality, hoof growth, immunity and general wellbeing. For example, copper and zinc are often discussed in relation to coat colour, hoof quality and skin health, while vitamin E may be particularly important for horses with limited access to fresh pasture.

A ration balancer or vitamin and mineral supplement can help fill these gaps without adding unnecessary calories. This is especially useful for horses that maintain weight easily and do not need a large hard feed.

It is important not to simply add multiple supplements without considering the full diet. More is not always better. Over-supplementing certain nutrients can create imbalances, particularly when several products contain overlapping ingredients. A simple, targeted approach is usually best.

Don’t Forget Salt and Water

Salt is one of the most commonly overlooked parts of a horse’s diet. Horses need sodium and chloride for hydration, nerve function and muscle function. Horses in work, horses that sweat heavily, and horses in hot weather may need additional salt or electrolytes.

Providing a salt block is helpful, but some horses do not consume enough from a block alone. Many owners choose to add plain salt to the daily feed, particularly for working horses. Electrolytes may also be useful after heavy sweating, travel or competition.

Clean, fresh water should always be available. A horse’s water intake can change with weather, workload, diet and access to pasture. Horses eating dry hay generally need to drink more than horses on lush pasture. In winter, some horses reduce their water intake, which can increase the risk of digestive issues. Feeding soaked feeds such as beet pulp, fibre cubes or mashes can help increase water intake.

Feed According to Body Condition

Body condition scoring is a useful way to assess whether your horse’s diet is working. Rather than relying only on weight or appearance, body condition scoring looks at fat coverage over areas such as the ribs, neck, wither, shoulders, back and tailhead.

An ideal body condition will vary slightly depending on the horse’s discipline, breed and stage of life, but most horses should be neither too thin nor too overweight. You should be able to feel the ribs without excessive pressure, but they should not be sharply visible in a healthy mature horse.

If your horse is gaining too much weight, the diet may need fewer calories, better pasture control, more exercise, or a lower-energy forage. If your horse is losing condition, it may need more forage, higher-quality hay, additional calories, dental checks, worming review, or veterinary investigation.

Sudden changes in weight should not be ignored, especially in older horses or horses with ongoing health concerns.

Make Changes Gradually

Any changes to a horse’s diet should be made gradually. The horse’s digestive system relies on a delicate population of microbes to break down fibre. Sudden changes in feed, hay or pasture can upset this balance and may increase the risk of digestive discomfort, loose manure or colic.

When introducing a new feed, transition slowly over 7–14 days where possible. Start with a small amount and gradually increase while reducing the old feed. This gives the digestive system time to adjust.

This is especially important when changing hay batches, moving paddocks, introducing rich pasture, or adding concentrates.

Keep the Diet Practical

A good diet should be balanced, but it should also be realistic. The best feed plan is one that suits the horse and can be maintained consistently by the owner.

Consider how many feeds per day your horse receives, whether the horse lives alone or in a herd, how much pasture is available, whether hay can be fed safely, and whether the horse has any special needs such as ulcers, laminitis, dental issues, allergies or age-related concerns.

For horses in shared paddocks, feeding separately may be necessary to ensure each horse gets the correct amount. Some horses eat quickly and steal feed, while others are slower and may be pushed away. Feed bins, hay nets, slow feeders or separate yards can help manage this.

When to Seek Advice

If your horse has a medical condition, unexplained weight loss, poor coat, recurring digestive issues, laminitis risk, tying-up history, ulcers or metabolic concerns, it is always worth speaking with your veterinarian or equine nutrition professional.

For everyday feed planning, your local stockfeed team can also help you compare products and choose feeds that suit your horse’s needs, budget and workload.

Final Thoughts

Planning a balanced diet for your horse starts with understanding the individual horse in front of you. There is no single perfect feed plan for every horse. A good diet should be built around forage, supported by clean water, salt, balanced vitamins and minerals, and adjusted according to workload, condition and health needs.

By keeping the diet simple, consistent and targeted, you can help support your horse’s health from the inside out.

Need help choosing the right feed, balancer or supplement for your horse? Visit Oakford Stockfeeds and chat to our team. We can help you find practical options to suit your horse’s needs.