Answer

By Your Horse

Nutritionist Clare Lockyer advises:

You’re right to think about how his dietary management might affect his overall welfare. In the wild, horses have free access to forage and will eat for between 16 and 18 hours a day. Restricting this can have serious consequences, including cribbing, windsucking, and possible gastric ulcers.
I think the amount you’re feeding is appropriate, but you might like to consider giving him a vitamin and mineral supplement, especially as he’s not out at grass at all. A good broad-spectrum one containing amino acids such as lysine and methionine would be a good idea. On average, haylage is around 65 per cent dry matter, so 11kg a day is the equivalent of 7kg of hay. Added to his feed, this gives around 9kg of dry matter a day, which is ideal for his bodyweight. The least you can feed your horse is around 1.5 per cent of his bodyweight – for your horse this would be around 7.5kg, but as he’s stabled all the time, more feed will keep him occupied.