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] Horse doesn't like Timothy? - Truman Prevatt

A lot depends on where it is grown and when it was cut. Many farmers cut it a little too late and from my experience timothy seems to lose it's palatablity if cut outside a narrow window. Also my experience is timothy grown in hot climates is not as palatable as that grown in colder climates. I've gotten timothy from Michigan that my horses would eat fine but some from Kentucky that they wouldn't touch.

I can get any hay I want from Ocala. Seminole feed and OBS bring hay in by the train load from all over to support the large horse industry there. But given the price of transportantion I would have to pay as much for timothy from Michigan as I would for alfalfa - which doesn't seem like a good deal. Back when I was a kid in Western Kentucky the UK extension was pushing timothy. We tried growing it and basically gave up because it just didn't do all the well in the hot weather. We went to orchard grass that grows well there.

Timothy is good hay and if I lived in Michigan I would use it. But living in the southland - I don't find it as good an option as others.

I have basically given up on timothy and if I want to feed anything but Tiff 44 or a little alfalfa, I will get orchard grass. My horses like orchard grass just fine and it does well in hot weather.

Truman

Nina Vasiliev wrote:

Hi all,

I bought a ton of Timothy, and slowly changed my horses over to that rather than the rye they were eating. But they don't really gobble it down like they did the rye. My one gelding was trailered 3 hours round trip the other day, and didn't even nibble any Timothy in the trailer. He's the picky one, and has turned down timothy before, a few years ago. The other two would have eaten the hay while in the trailer. They all are maintaining their wt, (and then some...) But as I approach competition time, I want to be sure my picky guy will eat hay at rides.

So, will they warm up to the timothy eventually? Or is this a sign that the hay is poor quality? I bought it from a good local feed store, but I'm confused as to what's going on...

My other choices from the feed store are rye, oat, "pasture grass", alfalfa/orchard grass mix, and of course, straight alfalfa.

Any thoughts?

Nina Vasiliev







--

“With or without religion, you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion.” Steven Weinberg – Nobel Laureate, Physics



=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net.
Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp
Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp

Ride Long and Ride Safe!!

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=


Replies
[RC] Horse doesn't like Timothy?, Nina Vasiliev