Citaat:
Mature horses require 10 to 12 percent crude protein in their diets. Many native or prairie grass hays contain just 6 to 8 percent. A fortified grain concentrate can be used to supplement the ration, increasing its energy, protein, vitamin and mineral content.
If testing the hay is not an option or if the hay varies from week to week, you need to estimate the nutritional quality of the hay and weigh a sample of it. The starting point for a 1,000-pound horse is at least 10 pounds of hay per day. Textbooks, such as Equine Nutrition and Feeding by David Frape (available from Blackwell Publishing, 1-800-862-6657) can give you approximations of nutritional contents of various types of hay.
Uitgaande van deze percentages ( 10 a 12 % ruwe proteine) is 6 a 7 kg niet zo veel. 10 pounds voor een paard van 1000 pounds ( minimaal ca. 5 kg voor een paard van ca. 500 kg).
Veel paarden krijgen te weinig ruwe stof, wat debet is aan maag en darm maar ook gedragsproblemen.