Because feed is a big part of the expense of keeping a horse, it's wise management to look at what feed costs. You certainly don't want to underfeed your horse, but you don't want to waste money, either. Significant differences do exist in the value of feeds, and in many cases, you get what you pay for. In most cases, you reduce the overall costs related to helping your horses if you spend a bit more money per bag on a feed product or per bale for a forage product that will keep your horse healthier, looking better and performing better. Contrary to popular belief, protein is not the most expensive component.
Calories are what's expensive.
You will spend more dollars in a year to provide your horse with adequate energy intake than any other single nutrient requirement. If you keep this in mind, you can be a much better judge of the values of different feeds. If I feed 18,000 calories of digestible energy to my horse per day, over a year's time it actually costs less to feed the better-quality hay. This example illustrates why forage feed products are becoming more popular. Not only do they address the issue of forage consistency, but they also reduce the problem of hay waste.