This is a really good point; I work with many people who seriously over feed their horses and I am shocked by how little they know about the feed they are giving their horses.

With working at a horse rescue we see a wide range of horses comming in from being way under weight to way over weight. And when you look up how to feed a horse all they say is like "A horse that is not being worked should get 90% hay and 10% grain. and a total of 25lbs feed per day. Braking down to 22.5lbs of hay and 2.5lbs of grain." Does not say what type of grain to use or hay to feed. It leavs me scratching my head. SO as a general rule at the rescue we have the under weight horses all you can eat hay 24/7 and the over weight horses get 2 flakes of alfalfa twice a day with all they can eat oat hay all day long.
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Now this does not add in the vitamens and all that the horse should get. I am SOOOO lost...

There are some excellent web sites plus books on horse nutrition that may help here. A google search is a good start. It is confusing as there are so many different types of hay and different types of mixed feed and grain . Whether horses need additional feed and supplements will depend on whether or not they have good pasture available with appropriate minerals in the soil. If your pasture is good then this should be sufficient during spring and summer but during winter supplementary feeding is necessary. I like to give my horses a variety of hay in winter - I rarely feed them Lucerne (alfalfa) - as it is so rich in protein and prefer clover and rye hays and plain grass ( pasture ) hay. For winter I mix up my own feed - two parts oaten chaff - one part lucerne chaff - then to each bucket of feed I add some steam and rolled barley (1 or 2 cups depending on the horse -their condition and their work load) and a cup of bran. Sometimes I also add extra vitamins and minerals - again depending on the horse. Basics - such as always smelling your hay and chaff to ensure that it is fresh and always only feeding small amounts of any new food when you are first introducing it help to avoid problems such as colic.

There was a free online nutrition course on Coursera by the Veterinary School of Edinburgh University which was good. I don't think that they are running it again until January though.

Noticed that Monty has added your suggestion to his lessons that are coming - well done!

Yea, knowing what to feed and when to feed has always confused me. I was raised in a place where horses had green pastures in the spring-fall and then winter we feed hay and grain. I was also raised with quarter horses. But how I live in Arizona (USA) and I have to feed hay all year around. I am feeding hay and grain right now. I also got my first Thoroughbred and have to say feeding his is also different then feeding my old quarter horses. I have noticed that my horse is loosing his top line and the vet said just start feeding him more. They never told me what to feed or anything. *Am thinking of getting a new vet*. Where I live we can only get Alfalfa, Grass, Oat or Alfalfa/Grass Mix hay. And everyone has their own opinion of what I should feed. Some say feed Only straight oat. some say only alfalfa. others say mix the two. I am so lost. BUT right now I have my boy on 2 flakes alfalfa twice a day with a thoroughbred balance grain three times a day...

Hey thunderfoot;
I feed all of my horses varying degrees(amounts) of "sweet feed" and crimped oats as a 50/50 mix. When not working/exercising they get roughly more than 1 quart of each twice a day. When working, I add a noon feeding of same.
They average about 1400 lbs each and are in very good condition and well muscled and toned. I mix in a vitamin and mineral mix with each feeding as well. And, they get about 20 to 30 lbs of hay a day as well, each. Now, this is an average, I increase or decrease depending on the musculature and metabolic rate of each animal. This does vary, not hugely, but it does vary. I keep a strict watch on their weight and just adjust over a 2 to 3 week period up or down depending on their requirements based on how many calories they are expending.
Hope this helps. Oh, by the way, I am one whose opinion is that alfalfa is rather rich for horses. You just have to pay attention to how much you are giving them. they gain weight more quickly with it, as it is quite rich....which is why most cows are given alfalfa hay of course. We did this on the farm and ran 40 milking head for 40 years. The horses were given a reduced amount and mixed with timothy etc as well. The alfalfa seems to have the same affect on "some" horses (not all) that heavy greasy food does to people, you know, feeling sluggish and sort of tired....
Thats if for me good luck.
Paul

I wanted to thank you all SOOO much. I think I have my boys feed tuned in so far as his top line is starting to come back. I am also tracking his wight every two weeks. But again thanks everyone so much for helping me.