How much forage does a 700 kg horse need?

A common minimum guide is around 1.5 kg dry matter of forage per 100 kg bodyweight per day. For a 700 kg horse, that is about 10.5 kg dry matter daily.

The as-fed amount will be different depending on whether you feed hay or haylage, because haylage contains more water. That means you often need more kilos of haylage than hay to provide the same dry matter.

This minimum is there to support chewing time and gut function. If a horse does not get enough forage, it can increase the risk of digestive problems, stress behaviours and stereotypies such as crib-biting.

Whether you need concentrate depends on the horse's body condition, workload, age, health and forage analysis. Do not add hard feed automatically. First analyse the forage, then balance energy, protein, vitamins and minerals from there.