There have been countless reference books written on horse nutrition and horse management. This is an attempt at condensing some of the more relevant information into a useful reference guide. The information that follows is compiled from books, magazines, equine journals and personal experiences and is designed to provide general information to help keep your horse healthy and happy.

Let’s begin with the basics. If you have just recently become an owner, the first thing your horse is going to need is shelter and food. Since nutrition can be a very lengthy subject, we’ll start there and include management information as it comes along.

All horses have certain nutritional requirements. The amount of protein, energy, vitamins and  minerals that horses need to keep their bodies functioning normally are known as the maintenance requirements. These are the nutrients needed just to keep your horse alive and his body functioning normally. When you or the environment starts placing more demands on the horse, these requirements change. The more demands placed on the animal, the greater the nutritional demands. These demands come in many forms: the size, age, breed and the work that is expected from each  animal. Fat insulation, parasites and disease, the environment, the individual metabolism of each horse and any demands for reproduction are all factors that can influence the amount of feed and type of nutrients needed.

For many owners, the horses they are feeding are older horses that do relatively little work. In most cases these horses can meet their maintenance requirements through simple feeding programs. Growing animals, breeding stock and performance horses will require a more complex diet specially designed to meet their nutritional needs. All feeding programs, simple or complex, need to be based on good quality hay and fresh clean water and take into consideration the need for five basic components in a horse’s diet.