{"id":32540,"date":"2026-08-13T21:08:25","date_gmt":"2026-08-13T19:08:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hartog.eu\/?post_type=articles&p=32540"},"modified":"2026-08-20T09:16:33","modified_gmt":"2026-08-20T07:16:33","slug":"feed-facts-with-maartje-introduction","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/hartog.eu\/en\/articles\/feed-facts-with-maartje-introduction\/","title":{"rendered":"Why fibre is the foundation of your horse’s diet"},"content":{"rendered":"

Want a healthy, fit and contented horse? Then everything starts with fibre. In this series Maartje explains why, in short episodes on digestion, forage, chewing and behaviour.<\/p>\n

Short answer<\/h2>\n

Fibre is the foundation of a horse’s diet because the equine digestive system is built for it. Bacteria in the caecum and large intestine ferment fibre into volatile fatty acids, a source of slow-release energy. Fibre-rich forage also creates chewing time and saliva, which protect the stomach, and keeps a horse occupied for hours.<\/p>\n

Why does everything start with fibre?<\/h2>\n

A horse is a grazer. In a natural setting it spends up to eighteen hours a day taking in fibre-rich forage. The digestive system matches that pattern: a relatively small stomach, a short small intestine and a large hindgut full of bacteria that ferment fibre.<\/p>\n

That order also tells you how to build a ration. Forage is the starting point. Concentrate is what you add where forage does not cover the requirement – not the other way round. As a guideline, feed a minimum of 1.5% of bodyweight in dry matter from forage per day. For a 600 kg horse that is at least 9 kg of dry matter.<\/p>\n

What does fibre actually do for your horse?<\/h2>\n

It supplies energy.<\/strong> Fibre is fermented in the hindgut into volatile fatty acids (VFAs). That gives steady energy, without the peak you get from sugar and starch.<\/p>\n

It protects the stomach.<\/strong> Eating forage takes chewing time, and chewing produces saliva. Saliva and the forage itself help buffer stomach acid. In a Belgian cohort study of 200 horses, a low forage intake was associated with a higher risk of gastric ulcers.<\/p>\n

It settles the horse.<\/strong> A horse that spends a long time eating is less likely to stand bored in its stable. Forage is a welfare question as much as a nutritional one.<\/p>\n

Who is Maartje Reitsma?<\/h2>\n

Maartje is a nutritionist at Hartog and studied Animal Sciences at Wageningen University. Her view of feeding horses revolves around fibre – which is exactly why she works for a company that has been drying grass and lucerne for more than seventy years.<\/p>\n

What does this series cover?<\/h2>\n

Every episode connects back to fibre:<\/p>\n