May 22, 2025

Changing Your Horses Diet From Winter to Spring

There are a lot of reasons horse owners look forward to spring, not least the chance to spend more joyous time with your equine companions. It’s time to pack away the heavy rugs and look forward to longer rides together, hopefully with some sunshine! When it comes to your horse's diet around this time of year, for many, this means a change from mainly conserved forage (hay/haylage) to include more grass.

Horses’ digestive systems are known to be sensitive, and as such, a gradual approach should be taken when their diet is changed. Within this blog, we are going to take a look at how to change your horses’ diet from winter to spring and the key considerations to make.

How To Change Your Horse’s Diet

No two horses are the same and there are a lot of things to consider when it comes to changing your horse’s diet. The number one thing to remember when changing your horse’s diet - or any part of their management - is that it needs to be done slowly. Ideally, you would change your horses' diet steadily over a 2-4 weeks at a minimum.

Horses thrive on routine and sudden changes can compromise their health in the long term. If you are bringing your horse back into work, they will require a gradual reintroduction and extra energy to do what you are asking of them. Their condition may also have changed over winter, so it is important to monitor them carefully.

There are a number of ways you can make the gradual transition from winter to spring:

• Feed high quality hay before turnout - Feeding your horse with the right hay before allowing them time to graze can help. Filling their gut and providing a good source of fibre can dampen their appetite reducing the tendency to binge and combatting some of the typical effects of too much spring grass which is low in fibre (i.e. loose manure).
• Limit grazing time - Only allow your horse or pony out to graze for a limited amount of time. Gradual increases over time allow you to monitor their condition and notice any changes in weight, condition or behaviour.
• Strip grazing - Manage where your horse can graze from and prevent overgrazing. By using temporary fencing you can ensure your horse has access to fresh grass while also maintaining the growth of the pasture.
• Use a grazing muzzle - Limit your horse by using a grazing muzzle to reduce the amount of grass they can consume.
• Consider the time - Allowing your horse to graze early in the morning when plant sugar levels are typically lower can be beneficial.
• Be on frost watch - Frost can result in increased sugar levels in plants, so if there has been an overnight frost, it may be beneficial to wait before allowing your horse to graze, or employ grazing restriction methods to reduce their intake.
• Balance - Supplement your horses’ diet with good quality hay or haylage and monitor their diet and condition overall to ensure they remain healthy.

Note: If your pasture has recently been re-seeded, it is recommended to leave at least 8-12 weeks before you allow your horse to graze from here.

How is Spring Grass Different Than Other Times of Year?

New spring grass is usually higher in sugars and lower in fibre, which your horse’s system may be unaccustomed to after a long winter. So the equine digestive system needs to be slowly introduced to this change.

How Does Spring Grass Affect Horses?

Spring grass, if grazing is not managed in a suitable way, can be problematic.

If a horse is left to graze on fresh spring grass, it can cause dietary issues, upsetting the bacteria in a horse’s gut known as the intestinal flora. This can cause issues such as:

• Diarrhoea: Diarrhoea in horses is often linked to dietary changes, infections, or stress, and requires careful management to address underlying causes.
• Colic: Colic refers to abdominal pain in horses, which can vary from mild to severe and is caused by conditions like impaction, spasms, or gas build-up in the intestines.
• Laminitis: Laminitis is a systemic condition that affects the feet, often triggered by metabolic or mechanical issues, and requires careful management of diet, especially limiting sugar and starch intake.

A gradual approach to the change in seasons is recommended for these reasons. A good source of forage is essential for a healthy horse, both physically and mentally, and should remain the main source of nutrition for horses all year round.

Here at M&T Haylage, we know that nutrition is key to a healthy horse. As a premium hay and haylage supplier, we’re committed to providing the highest quality forage. Our specialist nutritionist, Briony, is dedicated to creating bespoke feeding strategies for your horses, and can answer any questions you may have on this topic, please feel free to get in touch.

Monitoring Your Horses’ Spring Grass Intake

You know your horse better than anyone, so you will likely notice if they start acting differently or if any issues arise. Monitoring your horse's body condition is important, particularly with dietary changes. To learn more about maintaining your horses’ weight, read our blog on ‘how to body condition score your horse’.

What To Do If You Have An Overweight Horse

Before developing a feeding strategy for your horse, our nutritionist has provided some key points you must consider:

• Age: The age of your horse influences its nutritional needs, with growing horses requiring higher quality protein and minerals, and older horses potentially needing senior feeds to manage weight loss or muscle condition. For older horses, there's no set age when requirements change, but signs such as weight loss or loss of muscle may prompt a dietary adjustment.
• Weight: Monitoring your horse's weight ensures they are neither overfed nor underfed, which is crucial in preventing metabolic issues such as laminitis or obesity. An accurate weight helps inform decisions regarding feed amounts and supplements.
• Condition: Body condition scoring helps assess whether your horse is at a healthy weight and guides adjustments in feeding practices to maintain optimal health.
• How they maintain that weight: Consider how your horse naturally maintains weight—whether they tend to maintain it easily (good doer) or struggle to keep their weight and condition (poor doer).
• The level of work they undertake: A horse’s workload directly affects its energy requirements. Horses in heavy work or competition will need more energy (calories), while those in light work will need much less.
• Temperament: A horse's temperament affects its energy needs. For example, a "fizzy" or excitable horse might require a diet lower in starch and sugar.
• Health: Consider any existing health conditions that may affect feeding, such as laminitis, colic, gastric ulcers, or metabolic disorders like Equine Metabolic Syndrome (EMS). These conditions can impact what type of feed is suitable, the type of nutrients required, and how feed should be introduced.

This is crucial to make sure you do not overfeed or underfeed them. Horse obesity is a significant issue and if your horse is overweight, they will be more at risk of conditions such as laminitis, as well as poorer performance.

If your horse is overweight, it is best to work with an equine nutritionist or veterinarian to plan a sufficient weight control programme. This will likely be based on reducing the calories your horse consumes and increasing their exercise but in a gradual way.

One of the top tips we share with owners is that allowing your horse to graze over larger periods of time is better for their digestion. Horses have evolved to trickle feed, meaning that whatever forage you are providing, it's best to find ways of spreading it throughout the day. Employing grazing restrictions or using slow feeders where necessary can help you achieve this.

How We Can Help Your Horse At M&T Haylage

As an international supplier of hay and haylage, our premium products are specifically designed to meet the individual needs of your horse. Our specialist range is grown on our fields in Yorkshire and carefully monitored and tested for nutrition and quality, catering to horses, ponies and grazing animals.

We are proud experts in horse nutrition, get in touch to see how we can help you improve your horse's diet.