The amount of roughage your horse needs depends on the dry matter content of the roughage. This refers to the weight of the product without water. A horse needs at least 1.5 kg of dry matter from roughage per 100 kg of body weight to maintain a healthy digestive system.

Since roughage is a natural product, the dry matter percentage can always differ from the average.

Not every horse needs concentrate feed, but if your horse performs a lot of work, is pregnant, or is lactating, it may be necessary to supplement its energy needs with concentrate feed.

At Hartog, you’ll find a variety of concentrate feeds that are ideal as a supplement to a roughage-based diet. For example, take a look at Hartog Balance, Hartog Condition, or Hartog Strength.

It’s important that your horse’s diet maintains consistent quality. That’s why we recommend keeping sudden changes in feed to a minimum.

If you buy roughage in small batches, make sure it comes from the same farmer or the same field to keep variations as small as possible.

If you do need to change your horse’s feed, we recommend doing so gradually. Take a few days to a few weeks to slowly transition the diet. This way, both your horse and its digestive system have time to adjust to the new feed.