Feeding Hay: Recent this Decade

 Miss July could have gastric ulcers as she was always on a restricted (very limited hay...most likely all her life).  Eats continually.

Feeding Horses:  What's Recent This Decade

In the old days horses were fed grain and hay.  Research says no grain unless horse cannot maintain weight.  Research in New Zealand has shown that 2 year old Standardbred in race training developed according to expectations while fed grass/alfalfa mix hay.  Amazing.  Another study similar proved the same.

Scientists say horses are grazers:  they eat almost constantly.  This means the traditional method of feeding twice a day (hay) is not healthy for horses.  Feeding grain and hay to horses is not good for horses either.                                                    

Dr. Kerry Ridgeway wrote an article on Gastric Ulcers in horses.  Similar articles report that 97% of horses have gastric ulcers.  Grain gives horses gastric ulcers, so does isolation (not living in a herd), lack of being able to move (paddock and stall living).  In other words the way most horses are kept makes them sick.

It isn't breed related, age, temperament, but living and feeding conditions that give horses gastric ulcers.

Horses need freedom to move, to have friends (other horses), and forage.  They also need to be treated reasonably.  They need to be regularly attended to by a veterinarian, farrier and caretaker.  Wild horses lived or died.

Indications of Equine Gastric Ulcers

Essentially the horse is not happy, well behaved, mannerly, co-operative, calm, relaxed.
Some is bad handling (human teaches the horse that that behaviour is acceptable).  Some horses are more stoic than others.  The stoic one is the horse that keeps on going without (much) attitude regardless of how he feels.  Other horses are more sensitive and wear their emotions on their sleeves, so to speak.  They are the "problem" horses.

Indicators
• objects to girth/cinch being done up hard and fast (or at all):  pins ears, kicks, tosses head, snaps (even bites), rears, rears and fall over
• doesn't gain weight  The horse is not thin, but not fat either.  There is a limit to how much the horse can eat.
• stereotypies (caused by grain fed, lack of freedom, no friends:  stress)
• aversion to being touched:  tail swishing, tight skin, objects to stomach being touched
• reluctant to work

Causes
Are caused by a lack of forage in the stomach.  Stomach acid sloshing around in the stomach is not good for the horse (eating hay before work helps if not on continuous access to hay)
Fed more grain than hay.  (maximum grain is 5 pounds per feeding, up to 50% of daily food allowance)

What to feed  "no grain" horses
a grass mix is best:  alfalfa grass hay for the protein (12% for mature horses), potassium, calcium ratio to be correct

Mixed grass hay is better than only one type of grass.  A legume mix is more nutirious than a straight grass mix. (alfalfa preferred over clover)

Mineral salt (loose) for free choice eating
Loose iodised salt
(horses do not have cow tongues so cannot lick a block like a cow can)

Grass is considered a great healer.
Access to pasture in winter (after the grass has grown all summer) saves on hay.
 summer pasture with a mix of grasses and plants to choose to eat

Feeding hay 24/7 can be a challenge.  Scientists say horses that are never deprived of hay will eat enough.

Options for feeding hay 24/7

Unrolling a round bale

Benefits
• less injuries in eyes, kicks
• less manure concentrated on field
• everyone has equal access to feed
area where bale was fed is fertilized evenly (no harrowing in spring), reseeded

Challenges
• unrolling the bale is heavy work by yourself if the attachment is not on the tractor
horses over eat
• rain, trampled in the spring during breakup


Haynet
• bale in a net with 2'-1" holes
• It is tough getting the net on when it is exactly the same size as the bale
• no shod, blanketed or haltered horses
• some horses learn to untie the net opening
• some horses chew holes in the net for easier access to hay so repairing the holes is time consuming and should be done every time a bale is put out
• finding the net in the snow can be difficult if there has been a snowstorm
wet nets are very heavy

• 11/2" opening still frustrates some horses
• feeds at the same rate as forking hay
• horses stand around the bale rather than walking around like do grazing
• horses always have hay so not worries about feeding them at same time
• need a tractor or access to strong people
• come in all sizes:  little square bale to huge 5x5 bales



Forking hay
• need to be fit and strong
• able to carry hay to different points with more hay piles than horses, 20' apart the piles
•calf sled helps in moving hay out into the • always eating in a clean spot
• tramples snow so have more living area (important when you hae 4' of snow on the ground)


Feeding in the field rather than in a paddock
• no cleaning (or not much) in the spring
• lots of movement for the horses
• horses stay fitter walking in to water, to hay, to shelter
• reseeds field, fertilizes field with excellent fertilizer
• horses don't run around in field because always in it (less chance of injuries)
• fences don't need repairing because horses are not near them

Pasture
Doesn't need to be all good grazing areas.  Exercise is good.  Room is good for movement and lack of injuries, fitness (bone density is affected positively, muscles.)
Look at the muscles on the horses in the photos:  bulging.  It isn't from work or fancy feeding  Runing in the field when it is not due to excitement but feeling good is ok.  Running hard because just turned out not so good as the horse has not been warmed up.  Accidents can happen.
3 year old filly (just turned 3)  She has always lived at pasture

Fenced off/pathways in a field
not sure about this.  Why not just spread out the salt, water, shelter, food so horses have to walk.  They do not stand in one place when out in a field.  Apparently (according to Heather Nelson's blog) the horses run more when turned into the lanes.
I don't want my horses getting comfortable around electric fences.  I want them to stay at least 3' away from the fence.  That means having fencing zigzagging around a field there is a lot of wasted space (because you really don't want your horse tangled in electric fencing (or any fencing for that matter)

Depleted pasture...horses fed haybale unrolled in various parts of the field (to fertilize and reseed)

not much snow now but you can see how much the horses travel in this small area the photo shows

following a path now that the snow is deeper

Feeding Hay to Horses: Different Methods

Haying Horses:  Different Methods

There are pros and cons for haying horses in any manner.  According to new scientific research horses will do better with access to hay 24/7 or almost.  It is a matter of keeping the horse healthy, happy, and sane that feeding as close to nature is important.

When I was attending Crabbet Park Equitation Centre as a student the horses received a lot of hay.  even when there was a hay/straw shortage the horses were fed a lot of hay.  

From what I remember the horses were given a flake (or 2?) of hay first thing in the morning, before mucking out.  Then after morning stables the horses were fed breakfast:  always with a pound or so of bran (more fiber).  Each feed was according to the horse so some horses got oats, or barley or cubes or a high fibre cube.  At 10am the horses were given more hay.  At noon the horses were given their grain (horses out at work did not have their grain ration wetted until it was fed to them as the bran would go off).  I do not remember if they were given hay at this time.  At 2 or 3pm the horses were given hay.  At 5 pm or 6 pm they were given another grain ration.  At evening stables their haynets were hung.  Each horse was fed a certain amount of hay at this time.  One of the horses I looked after was given 30 pounds of hay in his net.  He was 16.3 and used in the student lessons and with some clients.  

The hay was put in a huge cement manger during the day.

Small square bales are usually fed to horses rationed out:  2 or three times a day.  Even 4 times at some places.  Flakes can weight 21/2 pounds each.  Depending on the baler (what set at and the crop).  Feeding this way leaves the horse many hours without hay.  Horse’s stomach’s produce acid constantly which means their stomachs need food in it to protect the stomach lining from the acid.  Equine gastric ulcers are attributed to a low hay diet (and high grain).  Grain does not help the horse’s stomach as it is quickly digested, and high in calories.

An alternative to feeding square bales is it use large round bales.  These bales can be dropped into the horse area where the horses immediately rummage through the hay looking for the choice bits.  Up to 50% of the bale can be wasted when fed this way.  Forking up the hay that has been tossed to the side will help with waste.  Forking the hay into piles should be done twice a day, once minimum.   

Rather than dropping the bale out with the horses the bale can be put into a bale feeder.    Bale feeders also have their downside.  In order to prevent a huge build up of manure the feeder needs to be moved every time a bale is put out (Rocco Tiani, farmer).  Eye injuries can happen as the horses toss the hay looking for choice bits.  The type of feeder is important as you don’t want the horses rubbing their manes off with a cattle typed feeder where the head is ducking under the feeder.  A tombstone feeder is acceptable as long as the horse doesn’t put a leg through the narrow opening.  Horses have been known to get into the feeder as well (but not get out)

Using a huge haynet to put the round bale in has many good reasons and a few not so good.  The horses will have access to hay 24/7, but not be able to eat all they want.  The down side to this is that horses are not moving around as they eat, or between eating sessions.  Horses need to move.  It is part of the digestion process as well as for emotional health.  Choosing a different place to put the net is easy.  One just drives to another part of the pasture.   

the hard part of using a haynet is putting it on.  The bigger your haybales, the heavier the net.  Using a net the appropriate size is important as you don’t want a lot of loose net for the horses to stand on and trample into ice made by their weight.  

When feeding with a hay net horses cannot wear shoes, blankets or halters as these will catch on the netting.  Strong netting will not break easy.  

In the winter or rainy season a dry net is nicer and easier to work with.  A place to hang the net to dry is nice.  A second net makes life easier.  

Another way to feed horses is to unroll the bale.  This is a good way to fertilize and reseed the field.  All horses have access to the hay at the same time (this is good).  The question I have is do the horses eat enough, or stand and it as much as possible?  

If your tractor has a bale unroller you are set.  Otherwise carrying the bale out to a hill and pushing it down a hill helps.  As long as it unrolls the right way (hay bales are like toilet paper... one way is easy, the other not so easy).  

The field will not need harrowing in the spring as the manure is distributed.  Grass growers thicker and better.

If it snows the horses will paw through the snow to get to the hay (exercise).  The horses seem to move more when fed this way.  Of course keep an eye on the horses that they are not losing weight.

Scientists have studied young racehorses in training and found that a grass/alfalfa mix fed to the horses was enough.  If a youngster in race training can do well on only hay then a horse doing lesser work should be able to maintain weight as well.  

Access to mineral salt (loose) ensures the horses obtain necessary minerals.  A very easy way to feed.  No stress at getting home in time to feed.  Horses are not anxious.

Winter pasture is when horses (and other grazers) have access to grass that has been allowed to grow all summer.  As long as the snow doesn’t get too deep (about knee high) the horses will be able to paw through the snow and eat grass.  The palateabilty of the hay changes in the winter.  It is recommended to strip graze the field.