Question

I have a mare (1,000 lb or 450 kg) and a gelding (1,150 lb or 520 kg); both are fed free-choice hay in haynets. My mare had a tooth extracted recently, and she must be on a pellet mash. Because the two horses cannot be separated, the gelding must be on the mash, too. How often should I feed the pellet mash to avoid colic, and how much should I feed? I am feeding Bermuda/timothy pellet mash every three hours except at night, so they are going without mash from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. They seem to be miserably hungry in the morning, and I am worried about their digestive tracts being empty for so long.

Answer

It sounds like your horses have adjusted well from a long-stem hay diet to a pelleted hay diet. Although horses are continuous grazers and can be seen grazing anywhere from 12 to 20 hours a day, there are times that, even in the wild, horses do not eat. Research has also found that horses spend significantly less time eating at night than during the day when they have forage available free-choice. You appear to be doing a great job of offering a continuous supply during the day, but perhaps your only recourse at night is to give a somewhat larger meal at the 10 p.m. feeding.

As for how much you should be feeding of the pellets, the general rule of thumb is 1.5 to 2% of the horse’s body weight. Therefore, your 1,000-lb (450-kg) horse should get 15 to 20 lb of pellets a day divided into a number of meals, and your 1,150-lb (520-kg) horse should get 17 to 23 lb. The amount that works for each horse will depend on individual metabolism; the hard keeper will need the higher amounts, but the easy keeper may be able to get by with the lower amounts or anywhere in between. The right amount is the quantity that will maintain the horse at the same weight, so their weights should be monitored.

Many horses in Arizona are maintained on a pelleted hay diet without problems. Horses can have delicate gastrointestinal systems, but they are also highly adaptable to different feeding systems with time.