Horse care tips

On sparse autumn grazing near sycamores, give extra forage — ideally in a hay feeder away from the trees — so horses aren't tempted to forage for seeds.

If you can't clear acorns straight away, feed good-quality forage well away from the oak trees.

Feed little and often. Horses evolved to eat small amounts for 16–18 hours a day, and frequent chewing keeps saliva flowing and food moving steadily through the gut.

As a guide, most horses eat 2–2.5% of their bodyweight in feed a day, forage included. For a horse that needs to lose weight, this may drop to about 1.5%.

Change your horse's diet gradually, ideally over 10–14 days. The gut bacteria need time to adapt, and sudden changes raise the risk of colic.

Feed at the same times each day — horses thrive on routine. On DIY livery, agree a feeding rota with other liveries so someone can always cover for you.

Give each horse its own feed bowl, and keep a separate mixing utensil for any feed containing medication, to avoid cross-contamination.

Keep feed in vermin-proof bins. If it stays in the bag, raise it off the floor on pallets so it doesn't spoil.

Never feed mouldy feed or forage. Check each batch before it goes in the bucket or haynet.

Horses on hay or restricted grazing benefit from something succulent each day — apples, carrots or soaked sugar beet add moisture and interest.

Avoid exercising for about an hour after a cereal-based meal: a full stomach presses on the lungs and diverts blood away from digestion.

Let your horse eat some fibre before exercise. It helps stop stomach acid splashing onto the unprotected upper part of the stomach.

Many leisure horses don't need a concentrate at all. A vitamin and mineral supplement or a balancer alongside forage may be all they need.

Grass and hay are often short of vitamin E, copper, zinc and protein, so a broad-spectrum supplement or balancer is recommended even for good doers.

Feed mixes and cubes at the rate on the bag. Feeding less leaves your horse short of nutrients; if that rate is too many calories, a balancer may suit better.

Fibre and oil release energy slowly, which suits stamina work and horses that become excitable on cereal-based feeds.

Grass is up to 90% water. Horses living on hay or restricted grazing get far less from their food, so keep a closer eye on how much they drink.

To cut the sugar in hay, soak it in clean water for 6–12 hours, or in warm water for one hour.

For horses that are overweight, have EMS or are prone to laminitis, forage under 10–12% sugar and starch is usually safer. A forage analysis tells you what you're feeding.

Use haylage fairly quickly once a bale is opened — it keeps only while air is sealed out.

For an overweight horse, soaked hay is usually a better choice than haylage, which tends to be more digestible and higher in energy.

Clean barley or oat straw can replace part of the hay for good doers with sound teeth. Introduce it slowly, and add a balancer to cover vitamins and minerals.

Slice apples and carrots lengthways, never into rounds or cubes, to reduce the risk of choke.

Before adding a supplement, ask your vet or a qualified nutritionist whether your horse actually needs it.

Feed-bag ingredients are listed largest first. Oats or barley near the top means a starchy, high-energy feed; sugar beet or straw pellets suggest a high-fibre one.

Feed makers may not claim a feed treats or prevents conditions such as ulcers or laminitis. Choose by the statutory statement and ingredients, not the marketing.

Competing under a governing body? Look for the BETA NOPS logo: the maker follows codes to keep naturally occurring prohibited substances out of its feeds.

"Fully fortified" on a bag means the feed already supplies a full range of vitamins and minerals at its recommended rate, so you don't need a balancer as well.

On a calorie-controlled diet, slow-feeder haynets and enrichment stretch out eating time so your horse isn't left for long periods without food.

Weigh-tape your horse regularly and note the result. You need a bodyweight to work out how much to feed.

Avoid large concentrate meals in one go. Undigested starch and sugar reaching the hindgut can trigger inflammatory laminitis — split feeds into smaller meals.

Always soak sugar beet thoroughly before feeding. Unsoaked beet is a colic risk, and expanding feeds can also cause choke.

Keep concentrates to a minimum, choose low-starch, low-sugar feeds, and split any you do feed into as many small meals a day as you can.

Feed hay before a bucket feed, or add chaff to the bucket, so a hungry horse doesn't bolt its feed. Dampening feed also helps it go down.

A large, smooth rock in the feed bucket can slow down a horse that bolts its food.

When feeding horses in a group, leave plenty of space between buckets. Competition makes horses eat fast, and fast eaters are more likely to choke.

Where possible, feed forage and buckets at ground level — it's the natural eating position for a horse.

If your horse's workload drops, cut the concentrate feed too. A gradual switch to a balancer may suit — ask your vet or nutritionist.

Older horses with poor or missing teeth may struggle with hay. Soaked feeds or mashes can help; short, stalky chaff is hard to grind and can get trapped.

Count licks and food-based enrichment as part of the daily ration — some horses will finish a whole lick overnight. Check sugar levels for good doers.

Forage is a built-in heater: fibre fermenting in the hindgut produces warmth. In cold weather, extra hay is a good first step.

In cold weather, make sure your horse has access to good-quality forage at all times — it's the main way horses keep themselves warm.

After hard work in the heat, an electrolyte supplement in feed or water can help rehydration. Always offer plain water alongside it.