Economically Balancing the Equine Diet
Progressive Nutrition's Equine Guide # 112
Date: 11/6/2005
The cost of feeding horses can be brought under control by identifying and analyzing your forages (hay and pasture) and feeding only what nutrients are needed to make up the difference between what is in your forage and what your horse needs. With today’s cost of protein grains and cereal grains used in formulating and manufacturing Diet Balancers and Grain Mixtures for horses, owners can no longer afford to guess what analysis needs to be in the horse feed they buy.
If your feeding program does not meet all your horses’ nutrient needs, their health, growth, reproduction and performance will be compromised to the extent of the deficiency. If over fed, other health problems can occur, and you may spend more money than necessary on feed and/or supplements.
The following chart is a management tool for you to use and compare the analysis of your forage, on a dry matter basis. If the nutrient levels on your analysis print-out are in-between the following “ranges”, under each type of forage, then proceed by feeding the required Progressive Nutrition (PN) “Units” per day found on the PN Daily Feed Planner or PN Growth Monitoring Chart. If the nutrients are higher or lower, call your local Progressive Nutrition Dealer or your local PN Equine Nutrition Consultant for special feeding directions.
Expected Nutrient Ranges for Each Type of Forage, when the Relative Feed Value (RFV*) is Between 103 & 150.
| Nutrients | Grass Forage Analysis |
Mixed Forage Analysis |
Legume (Alfalfa) Forage Analysis |
| Dry Matter | 87.00 - 92.00 % | 87.00 - 92.00 % | 87.00 - 92.00 % |
| Crude Protein | 7.00 - 12.00 % | 12.00 - 18.00 % | 18.00 - 24.00 % |
| Lysine | .24 - .41 % | .51 - .76 % | .92 – 1.22 % |
| Crude Fat | 2.0 - 2.4 % | 2.3 - 2.7 % | 2.6 - 3.0 % |
| ADF | 40.0 - 31.0 % | 40.0 - 31.0 % | 40.0 - 31.0 % |
| NDF | 60.0 - 45.0 % | 56.0 - 43.0 % | 53.0 - 41.0 % |
| DE Mcal/lb | .86 - .95 | .93 - 1.10 | 1.00 - 1.17 |
| Calcium | 0.25-0.80 % | 0.80-1.20 % | 1.20-1.80 % |
| Phosphorus | 0.20-0.30 % | 0.25-0.35 % | 0.25-0.35 % |
| Potassium | 0.80-1.50 % | 1.50-3.00 % | 2.00-3.50 % |
| Magnesium | 0.15-0.25 % | 0.20-0.30 % | 0.20-0.35 % |
| Sulfur | 0.15-0.30 % | 0.20-0.35 % | 0.25-0.35 % |
| Manganese | 40-70 ppm | 40-60 ppm | 40-50 ppm |
| Iron | 60-200 ppm | 60-200 ppm | 60-200 ppm |
| Molybdenum | 1-2 ppm | 2-4 ppm | 3-6 ppm |
| Copper | 2-10 ppm | 4-10 ppm | 4-10 ppm |
| Zinc | 12-26 ppm | 14-26 ppm | 14-28 ppm |
*Relative Feed Value (RFV) is a quality-grading standard assigned by the Hay Market Task Force of the American Forage and Grassland Council to help us determine the true value of forages.
Forages with values between 103 and 150 are good to prime quality, while forages between 103 and 75 are graded as fair to poor quality. This is based on the availability of the nutrients with-in the plant.
If your forage RFV were above 150 or under 103, the nutrient analysis would change accordingly and so would the level of nutrients you will need to add/day. The nutrient levels with-in the plant are affected most by: 1) type of forage and 2) maturity at harvest. The following will also affect these levels, but to a lesser extent: 3) soil type where they are grown, 4) amount of fertilizer applied, 5) amount of rainfall and 6) ambient temperature while growing.
A Progressive Nutrition (PN) “Unit” is made up of protein (amino acids), fats (fatty acids), major minerals, trace minerals and vitamins necessary to complement the analysis of your forages (grass or legume. Our Diet Balancers are concentrated sources of these nutrients, which means one PN “Unit” is equal to one lb of the appropriate Diet Balancer. How many PN “Units” to feed per day will depend on your horses: size, current growth rate, reproductive status and/or performance level. See our recommendations on the PN Daily Feed Planner (Equine Management Guide #104) and/or PN Growth Monitoring Chart (Equine Management Guide # 106). Which Diet Balancer to feed will depend on the type of forage your horses are eating.
