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Horse Feed Ration Calculator

Split a horse's daily ration into forage and concentrate based on bodyweight and work.

How it is calculated

All amounts are kilograms of feed per day. With bodyweight BW (kg), total intake i (% of bodyweight) and forage share f (% of the ration): total = BW × i ÷ 100, forage = total × f ÷ 100, concentrate = total − forage. The tool also shows a forage target of BW × 0.02 (about 2 % of bodyweight) and an absolute minimum of BW × 0.01 (1 %) to compare against, and the number of concentrate meals, ⌈concentrate ÷ 2⌉, assuming no more than 2 kg of concentrate per meal; an all-forage ration shows 0 meals. Bodyweight and intake must be above zero and the forage share between 0 and 100. Bodyweight above 2,000 kg or intake above 10 % of bodyweight are treated as impossible and show no result. There is no workload input: you choose the intake percentage yourself, so this is a planning aid, not a substitute for a vet or nutritionist.

Worked example

A 500 kg horse eating 2 % of bodyweight, 70 % of it as forage. Total feed: 500 × 2 ÷ 100 = 10 kg per day. Forage: 10 × 0.70 = 7 kg. Concentrate: 10 − 7 = 3 kg. Forage target: 500 × 0.02 = 10 kg and absolute minimum 500 × 0.01 = 5 kg, so 7 kg of forage is above the minimum but under the target. Concentrate meals: ⌈3 ÷ 2⌉ = 2. Result: 10.00 kg total, 7.00 kg forage, 3.00 kg concentrate, target forage 10.00 kg, minimum forage 5.00 kg, 2 meals.

Try this example →

Common mistakes

  • Entering bodyweight in pounds. The tool works in kilograms, so 1,100 lb typed as 1100 is read as an 1,100 kg horse and the ration comes out more than twice too large.
  • Typing the intake as a fraction such as 0.02 instead of a percentage such as 2. The tool accepts it and returns a tiny ration (0.10 kg a day for a 500 kg horse).
  • Confusing the forage share with the intake. The 70 is the share of the ration that is forage, not 70 % of bodyweight; a share above 100 shows no result.
  • Pushing the forage share low to feed more concentrate. At 40 % forage on a 500 kg horse (10 kg total) the forage is 4 kg, below the 5 kg minimum shown, and the tool still gives a result.
  • Expecting a different ration for harder work. Nothing in the formula depends on workload, so raise or lower the intake percentage yourself.

Sources

About this calculator

A horse's daily feed ration splits into forage (hay or pasture) and concentrate (grain or pelleted feed), sized as a percentage of the horse's bodyweight — a horse typically eats about 2% to 2.5% of its bodyweight per day, with the majority coming from forage, and forage should be about 2% of bodyweight as the target and 1% as the absolute minimum (Alabama Extension), since horses are hindgut fermenters built to graze continuously. That baseline needs to be raised for workload, because a horse in moderate to heavy work needs additional calories from concentrate to meet energy demands that forage alone can't supply without an impractically large volume. This calculator has no workload setting, so you choose the intake percentage yourself.

Horse owners and barn managers calculate this ration because both underfeeding and overfeeding carry real health risks — insufficient forage raises the risk of ulcers and colic in a digestive system designed for constant small intake, while excess concentrate, especially relative to forage, raises the risk of laminitis and metabolic problems — so getting the forage-to-concentrate split right for a specific horse's weight and workload is a routine part of responsible horse care.

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