What Quality of Roughage Does Your Horse Need?

What Quality of Roughage Does Your Horse Need?

Roughage is a natural product, which means its composition can vary significantly. It’s not a standardized feed with consistent nutrient levels. Especially variations in energy, protein, and sugar content can affect your horse’s body condition score and even lead to metabolic issues. By understanding these variations and knowing what your horse needs, you can make more informed choices about the right type of forage.

Roughage Quality in Three Grades

Simply put, hay or haylage can be divided into three categories: coarse and low-quality, average, and fine and rich. This classification is mostly determined by the fiber content, or crude fiber. A higher fiber level results in tougher, thicker stems that are less digestible. With some practice, you can learn to judge forage quality by its look and feel. Generally, finer hay is also richer in protein and often higher in sugar than coarser types. However, sugar and protein levels can vary widely, and the only way to be sure is through a forage analysis.

Grades of Roughage Quality

Low-Quality Roughage

Low-quality forage has a coarse structure and is relatively low in sugar, energy, and protein. This type is ideal for horses that gain weight easily or aren’t doing much work.

Best suited for:

• Overweight horses
• Horses at rest or doing light to moderate work
• Mares in early pregnancy

Medium-Quality Roughage

Medium-quality forage has a more balanced structure and contains moderate levels of sugar, energy, and protein. It’s a solid option for horses with average nutritional needs.

Best suited for:

• Underweight horses
• Horses in heavy or intense training
• Young horses (2 to 3 years old)
• Mares in late pregnancy

High-Quality Roughage

Fine and rich forage is high in sugar, energy, and protein, making it ideal for horses with high nutritional demands.

Best suited for:

• Severely underweight horses
• Foals
• Senior horses
• Mares in late pregnancy and during lactation

Body Condition Score (BCS)

Adjust the roughage quality based on your horse’s current body condition. If your horse has a BCS of +1 or higher, or is underweight (-1 or -2), it’s time to evaluate whether the roughage matches your horse’s actual needs. By checking your horse’s BCS every 4 to 6 weeks and adjusting feed accordingly, you can avoid major fluctuations and related health problems.

An overweight horse needs less energy and can easily maintain weight with coarse-stemmed hay. In contrast, an underweight horse may need extra energy, making medium or high-quality forage a better fit. The right type of forage forms the foundation of a well-balanced diet and allows your horse to eat as much roughage as possible (though restrictions may still be needed in cases of obesity).

Age

Young horses, specially in their first year, have high energy and protein requirements. Their digestive system and gut flora are still developing and thrive on abundant forage. Rich and fine forage is ideal at this stage. As the horse grows and approaches two to three years old, its growth rate slows down, and medium to coarse forage becomes more appropriate.

Always check the protein content via forage analysis. If protein is lacking, growth may be impaired. It’s not uncommon for forage that appears rich to be low in protein.

For aging horses with reduced chewing ability, coarse forage can be difficult to manage. In that case, switching to medium or even fine and rich forage can help maintain condition and quality of life.

Exercise and Workload

Horses are naturally built to move. For many, daily exercise isn’t intense enough to justify a large increase in energy intake. However, if work does require more energy and the BCS starts to drop, the first step should be to increase forage quantity and possibly choose a richer quality. If that’s not enough, concentrated energy from hard feed may be necessary.

Unfortunately, it’s difficult to determine workload intensity without heart rate monitoring. Factors such as duration, intensity, speed, frequency, age, and stamina all play a role.

Pregnancy and Lactation

Mares carrying a foal need more energy and protein to support fetal development and later, milk production. In late pregnancy, the growing foal limits space in the abdomen, so easily digestible forage is beneficial. Medium or rich and fine forage is ideal here, especially because milk production ramps up after foaling, and a richer forage becomes essential.

Sugar-Sensitive Horses

There are also situations where not just forage quality, but specifically its sugar content, is crucial. Horses with insulin dysregulation, often linked to obesity, laminitis, EMS, PPID, or old age require special care. In such cases, a forage analysis is a must. That doesn’t mean these horses always need coarse, low-quality forage. For example, a senior or PPID horse that’s underweight may benefit more from medium-quality forage, as long as the sugar content is controlled.

Horses with tying-up (exertional rhabdomyolysis) may not have insulin issues but are still sensitive to sugar. For them too, a forage analysis is essential. Their ideal forage quality will depend on both body condition and workload.

Feeding Advice

Forage is the cornerstone of your horse’s diet. Since you often stock up on forage for weeks or months at a time, it’s wise to seek advice on the most suitable type of hay or haylage for your horse. Discussing your forage analysis with a professional can make a big difference. It really helps!