Home Current News News Archive Shop/Advertise Ridecamp Classified Events Learn/AERC
Endurance.Net Home Ridecamp Archives
ridecamp@endurance.net
[Archives Index]   [Date Index]   [Thread Index]   [Author Index]   [Subject Index]

Re: [RC] Tasty Hay or Not, what makes the difference? - Bonnie Davis

I only buy hay when I go camping.  Guy who owns barn feeds horses.  When I buy, I taste the hay.  Take a stem, break.  It should smell sweet.  Then open the oat head and taste it (I've even boiled rolled oats to make oatmeal for breakfast).  It should have a sweet taste.  No dust.  My one horse loves stems so I like hay with a lot of stems.  Good chewing for them.  Keeps them busy and outta trouble.  (Don't like alfalfa and won't feed it.)  I won't buy hay if it's got a lot of green color to it.  When stacked it could get hot and burst into flames.  A friend of my daughter just had her barn burned down with horse inside because of 'hot' hay.
 
Bonnie Davis
 
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Friday, January 24, 2003 12:14 PM
Subject: Re: [RC] Tasty Hay or Not, what makes the difference?

 
I have had this problem in the past, but with oat hay.  Bought some, looked all green, didn't have a lot of smell, lots of green oat heads on it; Looked good enough to eat.  My horses snuffled through it, nibbled off the heads of oats, and used the rest for bedding, and hollered to be fed. Well, we used to put our own oat hay up, and remembered that it was always cut at a "ripe" stage; that is, when there was sap in the grain heads.  After being baled, it had a gold and green color and tasted and smelled very sweet.  Horses ate every scrap.  So, my theory about the pretty, green hay is that it was like eating a pretty, green banana!!  Bitter, bitter, taste.  Renie

Replies
Re: [RC] Tasty Hay or Not, what makes the difference?, Renie Burnett