Poseidon Knowledge Hub
Forage & Feed Supply
Latest Webinar
From Drought to Downpour
How extreme weather affects your horse's health. Free webinar with Dr Chris Mortensen PhD and Poseidon founder Linda Goldspink-Lord.
Watch the replay
Your Feed Supply Questions
How much forage does my horse need each day?
For most adult horses, aim for around 2% of bodyweight a day as forage dry matter, adjusted to condition and needs. Avoid dropping below 1.5% without professional advice. For a 500 kg horse, 2% is 10 kg of dry matter, or about 11 kg of hay at 90% dry matter, before wastage.
What can I feed if my hay is running low?
Act while some hay remains. Cut wastage with slow feeders and spread what is left across the day and night. Replace part of the ration with suitable chaff, hay cubes or pellets, or digestible fibres such as beet pulp, soybean hulls and lupin hulls, and balance the whole ration.
What if I have no hay left at all?
Contact your feed supplier and an equine nutritionist or vet that day. Use grass or lucerne hay cubes or pellets in a balanced ration, or a feed labelled for complete forage replacement at its hay replacement rate. Beet pulp, hulls or straw alone are not a balanced replacement ration. Only use feeds confirmed suitable for horses: some cattle feeds contain ingredients such as monensin that are dangerous to horses.
Articles
Feed Scarcity & Drought
• By Dr Nerida McGilchrist
How To Feed Your Horse In A Drought
When your usual hay is gone, here's how to keep the diet balanced with the fibre you can find.
• By Sam Potter
Feeding To Maintain Gut Health During Drought Conditions
Why forage comes first, and how to stretch your hay without putting your horse's gut at risk.
• By Jill Davies
WA's Forage Frustration: Finding the Alternatives
A dry year, short hay and rising prices. What owners can safely feed instead.
• By Nikita Stowers
I Can't Get Low Sugar Hay For My Horse, Now What?
Practical options when the hay you rely on isn't available.
Related Articles
Feeding Your Horse For Recovery After Floods And Natural Disasters
Fibre first, slow and steady: how to refeed a horse that has gone without good forage.
Read more >
The Comprehensive Guide To Hay For Your Horse
Hay types, testing and what to look for when you have to buy unfamiliar hay.
Read more >
8 Tips To Reduce Your Horse's Feed Bill
Less waste, more forage and a balanced diet without paying for what your horse doesn't need.
Read more >
Feeding To Reduce The Risk Of Colic In Horses
How much forage, how often, and how to make feed changes safely.
Read more >
Is The Flush Of Spring Grass Affecting Your Horse's Behaviour?
Why grass recovering after a dry spell needs careful reintroduction.
Read more >
Why Stress Paste? 8 Reasons You Can't Ignore
Hot weather, feed changes and travel: supporting the gut through short-term stress.
Read more >Webinar
Watch the Webinar Replay
From Drought to Downpour
How Extreme Weather Impacts Your Horse's Health
Heatwaves, drought, bushfires, floods and weeks of mud all take a toll on your horse's gut health, immune system, behaviour and performance. Equine scientist Dr Chris Mortensen PhD and Poseidon founder Linda Goldspink-Lord explain what to watch for and how to prepare.
Protocol
Forage & Feed Supply Protocol
Six steps to support your horse through limited forage and feeding changes
Changes in weather can impact forage quality and supply, increase reliance on dry feed and bring repeated diet changes. Start early with a reliable forage and water supply, and use consistent feeding, careful transitions and targeted gut support to help your horse cope as conditions change.
- Secure enough suitable forage
- If forage runs low or runs out
- Manage feed changes carefully
- Protect water intake and manage heat
- Monitor and reduce other risks
- Match support to your horse and the conditions
Poseidon Knowledge Hub
True Health
Begins in the Gut.
Poseidon Knowledge Hub brings together expert education, practical resources and trusted information created by world leading experts, to help you make informed decisions and give your horse the healthiest, happiest life possible.
