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Re: Hay?...before and after



Slagle wrote:
> 
>     I'm interested in some facts about different types of hay. I have
> always thought that a good quality grass hay, fed free choice, is a
> reasonably good option for most horses. Since I moved to NJ it seems
> all I hear is timothy hay is  much better for them. When I ask why, I
> hear various general reasons, nothing real specific.  I'd like to hear
> what some of you know about the differences between  grass and timothy
> hay (both good quality) as far as nutrition in a feeding program. 


Well, timothy IS a grass hay.  And so you're right, in that good quality
grass hay, free choice, goes a long ways towards providing most of what
a horse needs.  Timothy (assuming we're talking good, clean, high
quality hay) is a nifty hay---it's right around 8-10% protein (which is
just about right for most horses that aren't growing, lactating, etc),
it has a good calcium-phosphorus ratio, a nice balance of minerals and
provides adequate levels of most of the nutrients needed for
maintenance.  It might be just a touch light in energy for some horses,
but other horses will maintain weight just fine on a diet consisting
only of timothy.

On the other hand, timothy is not the ONLY grass hay that fits nicely
into this one-stop-shopping pigeonhole.  So do good-quality bermuda,
fescue, bahiagrass, canarygrass and oat hay, just to name a very few. 
Other grass hays (ie orchardgrass, pangola, bluegrass, etc) don't
provide really balanced nutrition all by themselves, but with a very
tiny amount of any high-quality legume, hey presto, you're covering all
your bases again.

And, as Wendy pointed out, the other "family" of hays are the legumes,
such as alfalfa, trefoil, clover and lespedeza.  These are generally
also very adequate in all the nutrients, especially protein, but are
often a bit too rich all by themselves.  They're a nice supplement to
grass hay in small amounts.

The thing about hay (ANY hay) is to pick hays by the quality of the
bale(s) you're looking at, rather than whether or not it's a specific
type of hay that everyone else says you should be feeding.  Much, MUCH
better to feed high-quality AnyOtherKindofHay vs. poor, musty timothy. 
Go for quality every time.  I don't mean to beat this to death, but if
therr'es ever one thing you should be absolutely ferocious about, it's
making sure the quality of your hay is impeccable---no mold or
mustiness, not dusty or trashy, etc.  The few bucks you save are
absolutely not worth the trouble you're buying with crummy hay.

After that, you can also look at what's cost effective---it's generally
cheaper to feed less of a really high-quality, slightly more expensive
hay, than to feed twice as much of a cheaper, lower quality hay.  Also,
hay prices vary ALOT by region---out here in California, decent timothy
is $18-20 for a 100 lb bale.  Fat chance I'm spending that much for
hay.  High quality bermuda is around $9-10 for a 130-lb bale, which is
nutritionally very similar to timothy.  Guess which hay I feed.  Once
when the quality of the bermuda was kinda cruddy, I got a load of a
mixed barley-wheat-and-something- else-grass-hay that was probably just
a bit shy in calcium and maybe protein.  I threw in a handful of alfalfa
and that was that.  The point here is to take a good look at what's
available in your area and work with it.

If you can find a good quality grass hay (virtually ANY kind of grass
hay, as long as it's good quality) that's mixed with just a very small
amount of good-quality legume (either mixed in the bale, or added
after-the-fact by you), also of virtually any kind, the odds are
excellent that your nutrition level is just fine.  As your work level
increases, you'll probably have to add some sort of energy source, such
as grain or fats, but the forage requirement will still be met just
fine.

Hope this helps,

Susan Garlinghouse



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