The basic diet when caring for horses is the forage we are feeding them. Forages fall into two very broad categories. They are grass hays and legumes. Grass hays have a seed

like fruit, jointed stems and long narrow leaves. A few examples of grass hays are bromegrass, timothy, fescue and orchardgrass. Having seedpods legumes include peas and beans, clover and alfalfa.

The nutrient level necessary for your horse when feeding forage depends on his work load and diet. Pleasure horses or horses that are worked moderately normally sustain their weight on good quality hay. The highest levels of protein are usually not required for such horses.

Lactating and pregnant mares, growing horses, and high performance horses have greater nutritional requirements. These individuals will require higher quality hay due to their extra protein requirements.

Grass hays tend to have lower levels of crude protein. The range could be as low as three to four percent or it could range as high as fourteen percent. When feeding legumes such as alfalfa it can range from eighteen percent to as high as twenty four or twenty five percent.

Usually the higher proteins forages are used for dairy cows. Horses are normally fed the lower protein type. Many horse owners prefer not to feed legumes to their horses because they believe too much

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