If you own or care for horses, you already know hay and feed make up a significant portion of the budget. But you can use a variety of ways to create a cost-effective feeding program without compromising quality or negatively impacting your horse’s health. Understanding where horse owners commonly overspend can also help you make smarter feeding decisions.

Forage First

Carey Williams, PhD, extension specialist, professor, and interim director of Rutgers University Equine Science Center, in New Brunswick, New Jersey, emphasizes that saving money should never mean sacrificing forage quality. “It’s an important point to not compromise the quality of hay when looking at cutting costs in your horse’s diet,” she says. “As everyone knows, forage-first in the diet, so if you start compromising quality, you’re just going to end up spending more elsewhere.”

Saving Money on Hay

You can still reduce costs without sacrificing hay quality. One strategy involves purchasing hay in bulk when possible. “If you have the storage facility, buying in larger quantities can help with your cost,” says Kelly Vineyard, MS, PhD, equine nutritionist and owner of EquiVine PhD Nutrition, an independent equine nutrition consulting company based in Gainesville, Florida.

This applies particularly when you’re preparing for colder months, when it can be challenging to find high-quality hay, especially for a lower price. “So, it boils down to what your farm situation is and if you have room for storage or if you can afford to purchase a storage trailer,” says Williams. Purchasing hay when in high supply with lower prices (usually summer or fall) and storing it for later use can make a meaningful difference in the overall cost of feeding horses throughout the year.

When purchasing hay, pay close attention to pricing. “I really caution people to not (just) look at the price per bale, because you might run into a situation where it’s $10/bale, but instead of a bale being 80 pounds, it is now 40 pounds,” says Williams.

Rather, cost per ton gives a better sense of what you’re getting. “I think it’s the most effective way to get the best bang for your buck,” she adds.

Limiting Hay Waste to Save Money

Another effective way to reduce hay expenses is to limit waste. “We want to make sure it goes into the horse and not on the floor,” says Vineyard. “A really good way to reduce waste is by using a feeder. Research has shown that with the hay savings, depending on the type of feeder, the feeders pay themselves off quickly, often within six months.

“I’m a big proponent of actually weighing your hay to get an idea of how much you’re feeding,” she adds. Even if your horse gets free-choice hay, it’s wise to weigh your horse’s hay ration and aim for feeding 2% of his body weight per day. Knowing exactly how much your horse eats will also help you plan for hay expenses.

Choosing the Right Forage for Your Horse

While feeding lower-quality hay is generally not recommended as a cost-saving measure, not every horse needs premium forage. Vineyard recommends feeding your horse a hay that meets his physical needs. “If you have a chunky metabolic pony, he may do much better with a mediocre hay that doesn’t have the higher costs associated with it like alfalfa or more nutrient-dense varieties,” she says. “On the flip side, if you have a young growing horse, performance horse, or a pregnant mare, it is probably worth the investment of putting in better– quality forage as you’re going to end up saving money on your concentrate feeds.”

Selecting Concentrates Wisely

Once you’ve addressed forage needs, select the right concentrate to complement the hay. Concentrate options range from performance and senior feeds to ration balancers. The best choice depends on the horse’s calorie requirements and the nutrients already supplied by the forage.

“When choosing a concentrate, you are filling the nutritional gaps of that forage, and one of the gaps might be calories,” says Vineyard. “If they need higher calories, pair a commercial concentrate that includes calories, protein, vitamins and minerals. If they don’t need extra calories, I am going to choose a ration balancer or vitamin/mineral supplement.”

If you don’t know which concentrate optimally fits your horse’s needs, consulting an equine nutritionist can help ensure a balanced and cost-effective diet.

Cost-Effective Horse Supplements

Horse owners often turn to supplements to support health or performance, but many horses already receive the nutrients they need from forage and a well-chosen concentrate.

“Supplements are the No. 1 most over provided thing in the diet,” says Williams. “Most of the consults I do, about 90% of the supplements are not needed.”

“Horse owners can absolutely save money if they review their supplementation protocol,” adds Vineyard. “If you focus on a really good-quality forage, and a quality concentrate to fill in the gaps, whether that’s a supplement or a balancer, one or two other targeted nutritional supplements may be warranted depending on what you’re doing with your horse.”

Take-Home Message

Creating a cost-effective feeding program starts with investing time in evaluating your horse’s nutritional needs and comparing it to what he’s currently getting. Selecting an appropriate hay and concentrate (and feeding those at the recommended rate), minimizing hay waste, and reviewing and eliminating unnecessary supplements can significantly reduce feeding costs without sacrificing ration quality.