This article has not yet been professionally approved. The information is based on the sources listed below.
Mixing your own horse feed: what works and where it gets risky
Combining hay, oats, linseed and a mineral feed yourself is common. Weighing out trace elements yourself is something else. This is how you plan your own mix without throwing the ration off balance.
The short answer
Combining horse feed yourself from feed materials such as oats, linseed or hay cubes is common and easy to plan. It gets tricky with trace elements: selenium, for example, is dosed in the milligram range, and the margin between requirement and excess is narrow 12. Your own mix therefore needs a ration calculation that balances all components and the hay together 3.
What “mixing your own” usually means
Many horse owners put the ration together themselves anyway: hay as the basis, plus some oats or hay cubes, linseed or oil and a mineral feed. These are mainly feed materials and ready-made complementary feeds whose contents are stated on the declaration 4.
Putting together minerals and trace elements yourself from pure substances is a different matter. There, amounts are in the milligram range rather than the kilogram range, and mistakes are not immediately noticeable.
Combining feed materials: how to plan
- Decide what job each component has, for example energy, fat or fibre structure.
- Weigh each daily amount instead of counting in scoops.
- Take the contents from the declaration or a feed value table 3.
- Calculate all components together with the hay in one balance.
- Check the calcium-phosphorus ratio of the whole ration, because cereals and bran supply a lot of phosphorus 56.
Why trace elements are tricky
Selenium shows the problem most clearly. The requirement of a 500 kg horse is at least 1 mg per day 1, the permitted total content is 0.50 mg per kg of complete feed with 12% moisture 2. Chronic excess has been described with hair loss in the mane and tail and damage to the hoof horn 7.
Such amounts cannot be weighed reliably with a kitchen scale. Even in feed manufacturing, sensitive additives must not be mixed in in pure form, only via premixtures 8.
Maximum contents apply to the whole ration
The permitted maximum contents for additives refer to the total daily ration, including the natural contents in the forage 9. If you combine several products, you therefore have to add up the contributions yourself. No packaging tells you what the hay already supplies.
Three ways to your own mix
Equivora takes the third approach: the pellet mix is created from the ration analysis of an individual horse. A substance only goes in if the calculation shows a gap. We only include selenium and iodine with a lab value; without a hay analysis a mix is possible, but then without targeted addition of selenium and iodine.
| Approach | Effort | What to watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| Combining yourself from feed materials and ready-made products | Medium to high | Calculate all contributions in one balance |
| Clicking a mix together yourself | Low | Your selection does not replace a ration calculation |
| Mix based on the ration calculation | Low | Keep hay values up to date |
Comparison by effort and need for checking; not an assessment of specific providers.
Changing over and keeping records
New feeds should be introduced gradually 10. Note down the composition and daily amount of your mix with the date. At the next change of hay, you can then repeat the balance with the new values.
Key takeaways
Frequently asked questions
Can I mix my own mineral feed for my horse?
You can put together a combination from ready-made products if you add up the contributions of all products. Weighing out trace elements yourself as pure substances is not practical: the selenium requirement of a 500 kg horse is at least 1 mg per day, and the margin to excess is narrow 12.
Is home-mixed feed cheaper?
With feed materials, often yes, because you only buy what the ration needs. The calculation behind it takes time, and leftover amounts in sacks and tubs easily go to waste. A comparison is only worthwhile once the ration has been calculated.
How do I recognise mineral feed without sugar?
In the composition on the declaration, the feed materials are listed in descending order of their proportion by weight 4. Terms such as molasses, sugar or sugar beet molasses indicate a sugary carrier. For the overall ration, what matters is the amount the horse takes in with it.
Sources & studies
The content is based on the references listed below. It does not replace individual veterinary or feeding advice.
Show list of sources (10)
- Merck Veterinary Manual: Nutritional Requirements of Horses and Other EquidsSummary of the NRC recommendations: water requirement 5 litres per 100 kg body mass per day at maintenance, sweat losses of around 3.1 g sodium, 5.3 g chloride and 1.6 g potassium per litre, salt recommendation 1.6–1.8 g per kg feed dry matter at a maximum of 6% of the ration; from a 50% forage share potassium is adequately covered. Also covers the selenium requirement (0.1 mg/kg feed dry matter or at least 1 mg/day for a 500 kg horse, selenium as a component of glutathione peroxidase together with vitamin E) and the strong location-dependent variation of selenium in forage (grass forage on average 0.194 ppm, range 0–1.2 ppm); some regions are markedly low in selenium and may need supplementation. Also gives the iodine requirement (0.35 mg/kg feed dry matter, mares in late pregnancy 0.4), iodine poisoning of pregnant mares from around 40 mg/day, documented goitre cases in mares and their foals associated with large amounts of dried seaweed (kelp), that iodised salt easily covers the requirement, and that iodine supplementation is usually unnecessary except in severely iodine-deficient regions
- Durchführungsverordnung (EU) 2019/49Authorisation of sodium selenite (3b801), coated granulated sodium selenite (3b802) and zinc-L-selenomethionine (3b818) for all animal species; total maximum content of selenium 0.50 mg/kg complete feed (12% moisture), for 3b818 at most 0.2 mg/kg of added organic selenium. Authorisation expires according to the Annex on 3 February 2029.
- Bayerische Landesanstalt für Landwirtschaft (LfL): Gruber Tabelle zur PferdefütterungPractical reference table with requirement and feed values based on the GfE recommendations; the basis of many ration calculations in German-speaking countries. Chapter 9.3, Table 39: most common poisonous plants for horses with habitat, toxicity and risk level (after Kamphues et al. 2014)
- Verordnung (EG) Nr. 767/2009Placing on the market and use of feed, labelling and claims; definitions of complete feed (Art. 3(2)(i)) and complementary feed (point (j)), content of feed additives (Art. 8), feeding instructions (Annex II No. 4). Link to the current EUR-Lex consolidated version (as of 26 December 2018).
- GfE (2014) – Empfehlungen zur Energie- und Nährstoffversorgung von PferdenSpecialist reference in German-speaking countries (GfE, German Society of Nutrition Physiology), Committee for Requirement Standards
- NRC – Nutrient Requirements of Horses, 6th ed.International reference for the nutrient requirements of horses (National Research Council)
- Merck Veterinary Manual: Selenium Toxicosis in AnimalsStandard veterinary reference work (toxicology): chronic selenosis/alkali disease with hair loss and breakage in the mane, tail and neck, plus coronary band swelling, separation of the hoof wall and horizontal hoof cracks; notes that the neurological disease “blind staggers” historically attributed to selenium is more likely polioencephalomalacia due to high sulphur intake. The horse-specific acute single dose is documented by the primary study Miller and Williams (1940).
- Bayerischer Verwaltungsgerichtshof (2022): Zinkoxid und VormischzwangConfirms the premixture requirement under Implementing Regulation (EU) 2016/1095: sensitive additives only via certified premixtures
- Verordnung (EG) Nr. 1831/2003Feed additives – authorisation and use; “daily ration” based on 12% moisture (Art. 2(2)(f)), renewal of authorisation and automatic continuation (Art. 14(4)), general conditions of use (Annex IV: natural plus added amount; complementary feed, diluted as specified, at most at the level for complete feed). Link to the current EUR-Lex consolidated version (as of 27 March 2021).
- Liburt NR (2026): Feeding Practices in Horses and Other Equids. Merck Veterinary ManualSpecialist overview, as of February 2026: forage basis, concentrates as required, bran/mash and Ca:P balance, gradual feed changes. No efficacy study on commercial mash products.