Lets say that we have acquired a horse (4 years old Thoroughbred) and we are wondering what to feed him. For the purpose of this exercise, lets name our horse “Blacky”.

We know Blacky weighs 500 kg, which is considered an average weight for a horse. However, how tall is our horse? If it is a 12hh pony, it is likely that our new pony is overweight and we will need to reduce his feed intake. If it’s a 17hh horse, then he might be on the thin side and would probably need a higher feed intake. We take Blacky’s height and it is 17hh.

So how do we determine whether Blacky needs to put on weight or shed some kilos? This is where we look at his body condition. So if Blacky is on the round side, then we probably need to reduce his feed intake or provide him with food that will prevent weight gain. If he is on the thin side, then we probably need to increase his feed intake or give him food that will help him put on weight. If we are still confused about Blacky’s body condition, we need to apply some common sense and ask ourselves questions like “how much of his bones are showing up?”, “can we feel/see his ribs, his hips, his spine?” etc.

This brochure "Condition Scoring and Weight Estimation of Horses" from the DPI in Victoria will help you calculate Blacky's weight, height and body score. This is the Australian scoring scale and we will be using this one. There is another scale used in America, which is a little more complex. You can check it here.

One thing here to note is that no matter how fat your pony is, you should never starve him. Starving a horse for the purpose of loosing weight (or any other purpose for that matter! – unless under veterinarian supervision and advice) will cause serious health and behavioural problems that might not be reversible.

We have now determined Blacky’s body condition and noted it at a score of 2.

Blacky is a Thoroughbred and straight out of the track. He has finished his racing career and he is a 4 year old gelding. So he is a mature horse (NRC (National Research Council): a mature adult horse is a horse that is more than 26 months and less than 20 years old). Because he is off the track, we can safely assume that he is fit, athletic (full of muscles) but lean, hence a body score of 2. We don’t know his previous feed regime but we will assume (due to his racing history) that he was on high energy rations (lots of grains, oil, etc).

There is a say “You can’t fatten up a Thoroughbred!”. Unfortunately, this is often true. In general, Thoroughbreds are not good doers like Quarter Horses and ponies. This means that although Blacky will be housed in a nice paddock with plenty of grass, he might require extra feed in the form of rations. You might ask why they are not good doers? Apparently it is the way the breed is. It is a hot blood breed, so they are more energetic therefore they use more energy per day than colder blood breeds. So we will assume that he is not a good doer.

Based on this, lets see what percentage of food intake Blacky will need. The food intake (or intake level) is calculated in percentage of the horse’s body weight. According to NRC, 1.5% of the body weight is the minimum intake for a horse and it is considered a survival level. 2% is the normal intake. So if Blacky weighs 500kg, 2% of is body weight is 10kg. This means that Blacky needs to eat 10kg of food per day. But we just decided that Blacky is not a good doer and that he is on the thin side, so maybe he will need a higher intake level like 2.25% or even more.

It is common for a horse off the track to loose condition and weight very quickly when spelled or retired because it is very unlikely that this horse will be fed the same regime once it has been retired. So it is important for Blacky to minimise the change over and to make it progressive. We will discuss this further a bit later.

Now lets see what we are going to do with Blacky. We will be riding him 2 or 3 times a week for trail rides and a little bit of dressage. So we can say that he will be slightly active (light activity).

Blacky will not be stabled and will share a 10 acre paddock with another mate. So he will have grass available 24 x 7. Of course, the type, quality and availability (i.e. in winter, the grass is sparse) of grass is to be factored in but we will discuss this later.

Blacky has been a race horse all his life. He is also a Thoroughbred. A racing Thoroughbred is quite often highly strung, so lets say our Blacky is that way. He is easily excited, impatient and only wants to run. After all, that’s all he has been taught! At this stage, we must ask ourselves whether we want to have a horse like this or would much prefer a calmer one. You might be glad to know that you don’t need to sell Blacky to buy a quieter horse as it is very likely that his behaviour will improve once his feed has been modified.

What do we know about Blacky’s health? He seems healthy. His coat is shinny, he is bright and lively. Being an ex-race horse, we will assume that he is up-to-date with his vaccinations and worming programmes. We will also assume that he was on some minerals and vitamins supplements as most race horses are in order to maintain an optimum health and performance.

Lets recapitulate what we know so far:

1. Height: 17hh
2. Body weight: 500kg
3. Body condition: 2 (little thin)
4. Age: Mature (4 yo)
5. Breed: Thoroughbred (not a good doer)
6. Gender: gelding
7. Activity: light
8. Environment: at grass
9. Temperament: hot blooded (highly strung)
10. Health: good
11. Intake level: at least 2%, probably more. We would like Blacky to put on a little bit of weight so we will start his intake at 2.25%. this means that Blacky needs to eat 11.250kg of food per day. This includes what he grazes and rations. It is difficult to calculate how many kilos of grass a horse eats per day. We know that on average, a horse sleeps around 4 hours a day, leaving him 20 hours to graze and play. Some horses seem to either eat or sleep and each time you see them, they have their head down and are munching. Others don’t seem to graze as much. So it is a good idea to observe Blacky and see what he does in the paddock. Lets say that after observation, we decide that Blacky grazes moderately and we estimate that he might eat about 4 kilos of grass a day. This means that we might need to give him 7.25kg of hard feed.

Based on the information above, we now have a clearer picture.

We can now use the NRC program to have a basic view of Blacky’s nutrients requirements. However, we need to understand as the software disclaimer states, that many variables and information are required as well as expert skills of the calculations and knowledge of equine nutrition to be able to pass a judgment on what is required:

“..many factors that can influence the derivation and application of nutrient requirements to various situations. Knowledge of nutrient constraints and limitations of the suggested equations and models is essential for the proper use of this program in determining the nutrient requirements of specific horses. Because of the many variables involved and judgments that must be made in choosing inputs and interpreting outputs, the NRC makes no claim for the accuracy of this software in predicting the requirements for individual horses in specific situations. The user is solely responsible for the risk of use. Careful review of the information presented in the "Nutrient Requirements of Horses" will assist users in making appropriate judgements in the use of this program.”

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