CRUDE PROTEIN REQUIREMENTS OF AN 1100 LB HORSE AT
MAINTENANCE*
To adjust up or down for a horse or pony of a different weight, just
determine what % of 1100 lbs your animal is (e.g. 550 lb pony/1100 lbs =
50% = half as much; 1300 lb horse/1100 = 118% = 1.18 times as much) and
multiply that times the requirement.
Protein requirement: 656 grams
Calorie requirements: 16.4 Mcal/day
To determine if your horse is getting enough protein, you have to look at
both the % protein in the hay AND how much of the hay he is eating. The
following chart lists:
DE of hay = digestible energy = calorie content
Amount/day = amount needed to meet average calorie requirements
Minimum protein level = % crude protein you need to meet protein
requirements for that level of intake
DE AMOUNT/DAY MINIMUM PROTEIN %
1.4/kg 11.7 kg 5.9%
25.7 lbs
1.5/kg 10.9 kg 6.4%
24.5 lbs
1.6/kg 10.25 kg 6.8%
22.6 lbs
1.7/kg 9.7 kg 7.2%
21.1 lbs
1.8/kg 9.1 kg 7.6%
20 lbs
Moral of the story is that your low DE/calorie and low NFC hay doesn’t
have to be high protein to meet protein needs because the horse will need to
eat more of it to maintain his weight. As long as you meet the minimum
percentages above, you’ll be fine for total protein intake.
The combination of 2 oz of rice bran and 1 lb of beet pulp averages about
8.5% protein, DE about 2.8/kg. Since 1 lb of the mixture would substitute
for 2 lbs of a 1.4/kg DE hay, it falls short on protein because the protein
content would have to be twice as high as the hay’s (11.8%) to provide the
same amount of protein in half the amount. This only becomes important
when you are feeding amounts larger than a pound or so though so odds are
that no individual horse is ever going to be a precise fit for the “averages”.
You won’t have to factor in any dilution in protein intake from feeding the
more calorie concentrated beet pulp/rice bran unless your horse’s hay intake
falls below the amounts listed on the chart.
However, grass hays tend to be low in the essential amino acids lysine and
methionine. To meet those requirements, it’s a good idea to supplement
with conservative levels of those amino acids – e.g. 5 to 7 grams/day of
lysine, 2.5 to 3.5 grams/day of methionine. Beet pulp and rice bran are good
sources too, both providing about 0.55% lysine, so about 1 gram/lb of the
mixture.