A way you can check for first cutting is to break a thick stem of
alfalfa. If it is hollow, it is first cut and buy something else. If
the stem is solid, it is of a later cutting. I try to find third or
fourth cutting, but in my neck of the woods (near San Francisco), I have
to find hay grown in Nevada or Oregon because some locally-grown alfalfa
sold this time of year is first cutting. My horse, too, is a finicky
"alfalfa-only, dammit" eater, so I try to find the third cuttings to keep
his weight up. I have to slide oat hay in there every now and then
during the winter when I can't find the alfalfa I like.
Jen & the Sunman (the alfalfa and rice bran inhaling machine)
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From: Wrecksduke[SMTP:Wrecksduke@aol.com]
In the winter, my mare seems to go off her hay (Alfalfa. She doesn't
like to
eat much oat/barley.) Could this be because the hay we get now is the
"first
cuttings" of this past season? Maybe she knows its too rich.