Roughage In Review - What It Means In A Horse's Diet

Horses require a high percent of fiber content in order to stay healthy and keep the normal function of the digestive system working. For most horses, the normal requirement of roughage for a horse is determined in relation to its body weight. In general, a horse should receive 1.5 percent to 2 percent of its body weight in roughage a day. However, this may not always be possible. Most vets agree that animals should receive roughage totaling a minimum of one percent of its body weight.

Along with hay and pasture feeding, roughages are a vital component in the diet of a horse as it is the primary source of digestive energy, protein, and also provides a small percentage of requisite vitamins and minerals. Generally speaking, the requirement of food per day for an average animal is estimated at around 3 percent of its body weight. You should consider a few factors before deciding on the feeding schedule. You should be willing to adjust grain content according to the stage of growth of your horse, lactation, and the volume of work besides the expected body condition.

What exactly does the term “roughage” mean? Roughage refers to the high content fiber feed that most horse need. The expected minimum fiber content should not be less than 18 percent in crude form. Hay and pasture are the normal roughage foods. However, there are also many other alternate feeds that can be used to replace both hay and pasture feed.

It is very common for most horse owners to compromise on their hay and pasture feed supply on a daily basis. During a period of severe drought, roughage may become too expensive. Under these circumstances, roughage may not be replaced completely or else the quality may be lowered. In these times, grains with moderate levels of fiber content may be used. Alternate feed should contain eleven to fifteen percent of fiber. Keep in mind that low fiber content cannot replace the hay and pasture benefits. A change in feed may should be done very gradually. Make sure that your horse gets at least one percent of its body weight in roughage per day. The remaining portion should be filled by the required quantity of moderate fiber feeds.

Most horses ideally require one to two percent of their body weight as roughage in the daily feed. A normal mature idle horse may require roughage of 1.5 to 2 percent of its body weight. Some working horses may require even more due to the intensity of their work. A mare in late gestation or lactation may be seen as a workhorse for the purpose of feed content. In other cases a weanling and yearling will require comparatively lesser quantity of roughage.

Here are some of the alternate kinds of feed that can either be partially or fully replaced for the hay and pasture feeding. Good supplement for the hay and the pasture feed in this category is alfalfa grass. Alfalfa contains higher protein and calcium and less quantity is usually okay. Grass hay and Bermuda grass hay may also be used as complete supplements for normal hay and pasture feeding. Another type of hay is Millet hay. This type of hay has significantly less nutrient value when compared to other grass hays. You should also know that it has a laxative effect when exclusively fed as roughage.

There are also other viable feed substitutes, including sorghum grass. This grass is sometimes not recommended because of its bad effect on the health of horses. There are some studies that indicate it may lead to neurological problems. The other supplements include hay, oat hay, beet pulp, straw, soy hulls, alfalfa hay, Bermuda grass hay, and millet hay. All of these can be successfully used as a roughage substitute. There are also other sources of moderate fiber feeds, including hay and pasture feeding in the horse feed, like rice, bran, wheat, bran, and oats.