Horses are herbivores, they only eat plants. They need a lot of fibre in their diet and feed that takes a long time to collect and chew. That’s because they don’t eat meals in the same way that we do. Instead, they need to graze and browse for at least 12 hours each day. Because of this, it’s better for them to eat lots of low energy, low calorie, fibrous food than a little high-calorie food. Well-managed pasture with a diversity of species is the best feed. If there isn’t enough pasture, they’ll need lots of hay.

As a rule, horses should be fed at least 1 per cent of their body weight (on a dry matter basis) of good quality roughage or be given access to pasture for sufficient time to consume 1 per cent (on a dry matter basis) of their body weight. Horses fed ad libitum hay or pasture voluntarily consume 2 to 2.5 per cent of their body weight in dry matter in a 24-hour period. This consumption, however, can be influenced by several factors, including the quality of hay or fibre content of the hay or pasture.