Horses, grazing and feed in TW2000

[johnfrum]

I'm soon to be running a one-shot campaign of 'Red Star Lone Star' where the PCs are actually Texas Rangers sent from the new Texas State capital of Witchita Falls to Port Lavaca in order to establish a presence 'behind enemy lines'. As the PCs will be mounted on horses, this is the first time I've actually looked in depth at the rules for horses and upkeep which raises a few questions I hope this forum can answer:

1. The 1st Ed rules break down the requirements of upkeep at 15kg and 10kg daily (for horses and mules respectively) plus 4hrs of grazing. I'm not an animal expert, but this seems awfully high. With a minimum load, I can barely keep one day of feed for a mule and horse.

2. Couldn't a horse or mule graze for say, 8 hours a day, and then still be able to travel 4-8 hrs? What about all horse mounted units in Europe? If a horse is eating 15kg of grain a day, I would think that feed would be better used for brewing eth or even feeding humans.

I'd appreciate anyones thoughts on 'realistic' consumption rates for horses and mules or any house rules.