How much hay does your horse eat!?

[LouisCat]

I'm looking for a new livery yard and am trying to work out some costings. Hay is purchased per bale but I have no idea how much I'd expect my horse to eat as up until I've just fed hay ad lib outside from large bales.

He's a 16.3hh (and growing as he's only a baby) WB. Would be stabled at night once he moves. Would he eat half a small bale a night?!

 

[Sail_away]

Yes that sounds about right - mine gets through 10kg of haylage or half a bale, he was the same on hay. He’s 16hh, in a decent amount of work and very greedy. You might get away with less - I definitely feed more than most on my yard - but I’d budget for half and then no harm done if you use less.

 

[Polos Mum]

Easily eat that, likely more. What is the grazing like and how long is he turned out for? If he comes in hungry at 4pm he'd have demolished half a bale by 9pm.

I budget on 150 small bales a year (on average) for a 15 hh good doer on OK grazing. More in bad weather less in a good year.

My 17hh old boy ate a whole bale a day in the stable when turned out in winter on patchy grazing during daylight hours.

 

[KittenInTheTree]

Depends on how much hay is in each small bale! Some can have as little as 15kg in them, while others might have as much as 22kg. Also, how many hours from bringing in until morning turn out, as again, this can vary.

 

[meleeka]

I’d say half a bale at least. My big mare would eat more than that if it were truly ad-lib but a lot depends on what they are eating all day as well.

 

[Sossigpoker]

You should weigh the nets and aim to feed 1.5%-2.5% depending on his condition per day. Grass intake is included so for example, mine is out over night and has a fair amount of grass so he won't be getting 2% of his weight when he comes in for the day. He's getting closer to 1% but that will increase as the grass goes.