It’s important to know the pros and cons of the hays you have available as they relate to the specific horse you’re feeding. | Photo: Anne M. Eberhart/The Horse

Q: I just bought a yearling and will be bringing him home shortly. What are your thoughts on feeding different types of hay such as three-grain (oat, wheat, and barley) versus alfalfa and grass hay? Is there anything else I should keep in mind when choosing hay for my yearling?

A: Congratulations on your new horse! I like being able to feed different types of hay, because they all bring different qualities to the ration. Different forages also offer variety, something that would be abundant in the horse’s natural diet but can be lacking in a lot of diets we create. That said, it’s important to know the pros and cons of the hays you have available as they relate to the specific horse you’re feeding. Yearlings are still growing, and this increases the demand for several nutrients, particularly protein, calcium, and phosphorus.

Energy

Despite having reached about 60% of their final mature weight, yearlings’ daily calorie requirements are marginally higher than if they’d reached their mature weights and were doing no work. For example, per the guidelines in the National Research Council’s (NRC) Nutrient Requirements of Horses (2007), an average mature horse with a body weight of 500 kilograms (1,100 pounds) requires 16.7 Mcal of digestible energy (DE) each day if not working. This increases to 20 Mcal of DE a day once in light work. That same horse aged 12 months has an estimated body weight of 321 kilograms (706 pounds) and requires 18.8 Mcal of DE a day. It’s not hard to meet these energy requirements if feeding good quality hay or if you have access to quality pasture