When feed companies formulate horse feeds, one of the steps involved is determining how much of a particular feed a horse would need to eat. Within that, horses of different activity levels will require different amounts of feed to meet their varying calorie and nutrient needs. The video below gives a short description of each of the activity levels listed on feeding directions, to help horse owners feed their horses properly.
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Thank you for posting this video – its very useful for horse owners to understand what level of activity your horse is doing. So many owners underfeed or overfeed
How do I determine how much feed my horse needs to meet the nutritional requirements. All I can find is what is recommended for the horses activity.
Hello E, Thanks for the great question. The reason the instructions go by body size and then by activity level is because the more active your horse is, the greater his nutritional requirements. A body that is active needs more calories, more protein to repair muscles, etc. So, if you know your horse’s bodyweight, and you know the activity level, then you can match those two up in the feeding rate chart of any feed to determine the quantity to feed.
For Nutrena products, we have a great little calculator on each product’s page, under the feeding directions tab, that will help you with the math. Check out the one for SafeChoice Original, for example, here: http://www.nutrenaworld.com/nutrena/products/horses/safe-choice/safechoice-original-horse-feed/index.jsp – just click on the “Feeding Directions” tab about halfway down the page, and you’ll see it there.
Within the suggested range, if your horse is an easy keeper, then feed towards the lower end, and if they are a harder keeper, then feed towards the higher end of the range.
Hope that helps – please do let us know if you have more questions!
Thanks ~ Emily L.