What to feed a Belgian horse?

Question
My husband is wanting a horse to learn driving.  He really likes the belgians but we are trying to decide if we can afford to feed a large horse.  I have talked to many different people about feeding a belgian and have gotten many different things from more grain to almost no grain if fed good quality hay.  As well as different opinions on amount of hay a day from 1/2 bale to full bale a day.  Can you give me an idea of how to estimate for feed for a belgian appro. 2000lb?  From type and quantity of grain to amount of hay.  We have access to decent hay but would probably need to supply so other kind of supplemental nutrition.  Thanks,  Cathy

Answer
Hi Cathy, As far as hay/roughage goes a good rule of thumb is to feed 1.5-2 lbs. of hay for every 100 lbs of body weight daily.  Hay is more important than grain as a horses digestive system isn't naturally made to digest man-made products such as grain.  So in my opinion I would rather up one's hay if they need to gain weight rather than upping their grain.  I prefer the grass hays over the legume hays.  The grass hay whether it be timothy/fescue/brome/orchard grass/oat hay/bermuda/coastal hay has less protein than the legume hays such as alfalfa.  When feeding large amounts of hay I would much rather feed grass than alfalfa.  However, alfalfa is great if you mix it with a grass hay. In regards to the bermuda/coastal, I don't particularly like feeding this hay because it is very fine in texture and can have a higher risk of impaction colic than the other grasses. If you are exorcising your horse daily or even 3-4 times a week rather hard I would suggest starting him off on some type of grain just for the extra energy for the work load he may have and to help keep his weight on while having a work load.  I would feed 3-6 quarts 1-2 times per day as needed depending on what kind of "keeper" your horse is, his work load, and if he's still growing.  If you only use him 1-2 times a week lightly and he keeps his weight while being on pasture or just hay then I wouldn't worry about the grain.  It all depends on whether this horse is an easy keeper or a hard keeper.  I've boarded belgians (and other draft breeds) before and some are easy keepers who pretty much just stayed on good pasture and some have to be fed quite a bit of grain plus pasture/hay to keep their weight up.  So as far as the breed goes it just varies on that particular horse.  As far as grain goes, depending on how old your horse is would depend on what type of grain I would start him out on.  If he's under the age of 5 I would feed him something that had a protein content of at least 12% no more than 14%.  If he's between the ages of 6-15 I would feed him grain with 10%-12% protein, if he's over 15 I would feed him a senior feed formulated for older horses.  I prefer the pelleted feed rather than sweet feed, you will find less digestive disturbances in horses on pellets than you will sweet feed or oats.  Many people like sweet feed over pellets because of the threat of choking,  I've never had a problem with choking and if I do have someone that has a history of choking I just wet the pellets before I feed them, I would rather do that than have a higher risk of colic.  I do have customers who demand their horse be fed sweet feed and so I do and everything is fine but being that I board horses I try to eliminate all outside threats that may induce colic. My vet has always recommended pellets over sweet feed or oats.  However, it is one's personal preference.  Beet pulp is always an excellent source of fiber that you may mix with your daily grain.  It must be soaked first (for at least 1 hour before feeding) or could cause choking.  It is very safe to feed (if it's soaked first) much like hay is.  It works like hay in the horses gut so you can feed it in small amounts or larger amounts, however, I would recommend smaller amounts more often rather than large amounts all at one time.  The amount I would recommend feeding is 2-4 quarts per feeding.  This sometimes aids in helping horses keep their weight on also.  I feed it year round.  Be sure your horse is on a good de-worming schedule also and alternate between strongid,ivermectin, and safeguard/panicur every 6-8 weeks.  Also be sure to vaccinate your horse at least in the spring and fall.  Good luck with your new horse!  Jessica