Twelve rules of feeding

1. Provide a clean, fresh supply of water at all times. When this is not possible, always water before feeding. Water makes up more than 60% of a horse's body-weight, and is essential for life and health. He needs it to digest, absorb and excrete food and to maintain body temperature and all other functions; without water, he could die within a week.
2. Feed 'little and often'. Horses in their natural state graze almost continuously. This suits their limited stomach capacity and gradual digestive system. Large feeds of concentrates must contain fibre to slow down the eating process. Eating too much, too quickly, overloads the stomach, causing severe indigestion or colic.
3. Provide a correctly balanced diet to suit the individual horse or pony - plenty of roughage.
4. Feed only good quality hay and grain. Horses are fussy feeders and this will prove an economy: they will benefit more and need less.
5. Keep to regular feed times. A horse is a creature of habit: variable routines affect his physical and mental well-being.
6. Do not make sudden changes of diet which will upset a horse's delicate digestive system, causing colic, azoturia, filled legs, and other problems.
7. Never work a horse fast, or travel him, soon after a full feed. This will disturb the digestive process, and may result in colic, while a bulging stomach will press against the lungs, inhibiting their use and causing distress.
8. Do not leave a horse longer than eight hours without a food supply.
9. Keep buckets and mangers clean -remove leftovers.
10. Store feed in a clean, dry container to avoid vermin, mould or possible contamination.
11. Keep feed and hay dry: protect it from rain or damp ground, and make sure the feed shed is waterproof.
12. Worm your horse regularly, and have his teeth checked, otherwise good food may be wasted and worthless.

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