How many flakes per day does a horse need?

This is actually a very complex question. The answer varies largely based on the size of the horse, the amount of calories it burns in a day, what the horse is used for, what time of year it is and on the particular needs of the individual horse. It also depends on the size of the flake and the quality of the hay. In general, the rule is to feed to the condition of the horse. However if a horse is underweight, FIRST!! check his/her health condition before you just dump a buch of feed in front of them. 1) is the horse suffering from any infections, parasites, ulcers, bad teeth, poor social conditions, (eg is it the horse in a group of horses that push them away from sufficient feed?) etc. These must be addressed to ensure that any feed given is able to be processed by the horses' digestive system. Once that is done then generally for a horse between 800 and 1200 lbs, 2 feeding of 2 flakes each AND 2 feedings of a 14% protene mixed feed. (one precaution: beware of mixed feeds that contain a high amount of molasses. The feed should only contain enought molasses such that you can smell it but it should not be evident in predominant coloring of the feed to be dark brown or black.) , through the day would be a minimum. It is important to stagger the feedings, rather than give all the hay at one feeding, because to keep a horse's digestive system healthy, it is important to always have some hay being digested. For bigger, draft breeds the horse will need more. For smaller breeds, ponies and miniature horses, they might not need as much. If a horse has a very vigorous exercise regimine, it will need to ingest more calories per day to maintain a healthy weight. If it's cold outside, say below 40 degrees F, the horse might require more hay to maintain its weight and body temperature. By digesting hay, the horse's body creates heat. This is why it's important to keep hay available during cold winter months. Not all flakes of hay are the same size or quality. Some bales come with smaller flakes which you might need to double-up on in order to be giving the horse enough to eat. Quality and type of hay also vary. If the hay is moldy, a horse won't eat it, unless it's very hungry (as in a situation of neglect). Don't feed moldy or dusty hay to a horse because this will make them sick (with colic or respiratory problems). Grass hay has fewer calories than a hay rich in alfalfa. It is also possible to feed hay that is too rich for a particular horse. A very rich, green alfalfa hay is hard to horses to digest and result in poor body conditioniand and in some horses sick (with colic or founder), so it is important to monitor your horse's health as you feed (or switch feeding) hay. It is far better to feed a larger quantity a grass based hay than a samller amount of rich alfalfa hay. All horses are very different in their needs, so even if you follow these guidelines, you will have to adjust your feeding regimine according to your horse. If you have questions or have trouble maintaining a healthy weight with your horse, contact a veterinarian.