Horses are herbivores that eat a large amount of grass and plant materials. They prefer to eat small amounts of food steadily throughout the course of the day. In nature they would do this by grazing on pasture, although this is not always possible as some horses are stabled and do not stay in fields for most of the day.
Legumes are a key part of a horse’s diet. The most well known legumes are beans, peas, peanuts, lentils, alfalfa and carob. Therefore most horse owners will feed their horses hay, which is a combination of dried grass and legumes. Some owners will also feed their horses maize, which is made from corn. Horses also enjoy eating fruits such as apples. They are often given carrots by their owners as an occasional treat.
Vitamins and minerals are extremely important to a horse’s wellbeing and cannot always be easily controlled without the use of specific supplements. It is particularly important that horses receive an intake of calcium and phosphorus between a ratio of 1:1 and 2:1. Horses also need trace minerals such as magnesium, selenium, copper, iodine and zinc. Since many pastures are often lacking in these trace minerals, supplements are vitally important to prevent horses from suffering from various deficiency diseases.
It is also incredibly important that horses have access to a fresh, clean and regular supply of water. An average sized (450kg) horse tends to drink between 40 and 45 litres of water each day. Horses can only survive for a day or two without water. Because of the large amount of water they drink, horses also need a lot of salt in their diet. For this reason owners will often leave a pile of salt for their horses to lick during the course of a day.
