The 10% Rule: Sugar & Starch
The 10% Rule Isn’t a Math
Problem - It’s a Safety
Threshold
When it comes to feeding metabolic horses, there are two topics that cause a lot of confusion.
1) Thinking you add the sugar and starch percent of every feed together.
2) Thinking the percentage changes depending on the serving size or bag size.
By: Custom Equine Nutrition“If my hay is 8% and my grain is 10%, that means the diet
is 18%.”
Nope - It does not work like that. The 10% rule is not about adding numbers
together. It’s about making sure each individual ingredient is safe on its own.
Think of it like a safety label on each feed:
Hay: 8% = Safe
Ration Balancer: 10% = Safe
Beet Pulp: 5% = Safe
The only time you would add numbers is if you were calculating the actual
grams of sugar/starch — not the percentages.
Here is a human example we can all relate to...
If you eat:
A yogurt that’s 10% sugar
A granola bar that’s 12% sugar
....your breakfast is not “22% sugar.It’s still 2%. Always. The percent of sugar and starch is a concentration, not a
total.
The percent never changes.
Per serving = 2%
Per bag = 2%
Per truckload = 2%
The grams of sugar and starch will change with the quantity, but the
percentage does not.
Lets give another human example...The 2% Milk Analogy:
A gallon of 2% milk is still 2%
A pint of 2% milk is still 2%
A glass of 2% milk is still 2%
The container size does not change the percentage. Same with horse feed.
“If the product is 2% sugar & starch, what’s the percent per
serving? What’s the percent per bag?”The 10% Sugar/Starch Rule isn’t about adding numbers - It’s about staying below the safety threshold. A feed that’s
10% sugar/starch stays 10%, whether you scoop an ounce or a pound. The percentage reflects concentration, not
quantity, so serving size doesn’t change it. No complicated math required!
Written by: Nicole Sicely
Custom Equine Nutrition, LLC
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