Forage First: Why Hay Matters More Than You Think

Horses evolved to graze for up to sixteen hours a day, and their digestive system expects a near-constant trickle of fibrous food. When that trickle becomes a flood of rich hay or a scarcity of poor hay, problems follow: colic, ulcers, weight loss, loose droppings, coughing and behavioural changes. Getting the forage right is the single most useful thing you can do for a stabled horse, and it costs far less than treating the consequences of getting it wrong.

For most horses, hay or haylage should make up at least 60 to 70 per cent of the total diet by weight. A 500kg horse at rest needs roughly 2 to 2.5 per cent of bodyweight in forage daily — that is 10 to 12.5kg of dry matter. Soak it, steam it or feed it dry, but that figure is your starting point.

Matching Energy Content to Your Horse

Hay is not a single product. Its energy, protein and sugar levels swing wildly depending on grass species, soil, cutting date and weather. Late-cut, stalky meadow hay suits a good-doer prone to laminitis; early-cut, leafy ryegrass hay can tip a laid-back cob into fizzy behaviour.

• Good-doers and laminitis-prone horses: look for late-cut, stemmy hay with low sugar and starch. Soaking helps further. Feed by weight, not by eye, and use small-holed nets to slow intake.
• Poor-doers and hard keepers: early-cut, leafy hay with higher protein and energy, fed generously. Add a balancer to cover vitamins and minerals if the hay is doing most of the work.
• Growing, breeding or working horses: typically need the higher end of the range plus concentrate feed, but never less than the minimum forage base.
• Native ponies: often thrive on hay that would starve a thoroughbred, provided they have adequate vitamins and minerals.

If you are unsure, a forage analysis is money well spent. Knowing the dry matter, digestible energy, protein and sugar content removes the guesswork.

Dust, Mould and the Respiratory System

Equine asthma — still often called COPD or heaves — is strongly linked to inhaled dust and mould spores from forage and bedding. A horse coughing, wheezing, or showing a persistent nasal discharge after eating is telling you the hay is a problem.

Shake out a slice in a ray of sunlight. If you see a cloud of dust, that is what your horse is inhaling with every mouthful. Black or grey patches, a musty smell, or hay that is warm to the touch indicate mould — do not feed it. No amount of soaking makes spoiled hay safe.

Good ventilation in the stable matters as much as the hay itself. Feeding from the floor encourages natural drainage of the airways, but if dust is unavoidable, a haynet at nose height in a well-ventilated space is a reasonable compromise.

Soaking and Steaming: Which and When

Soaking reduces water-soluble sugars, starch and dust, making it useful for laminitis-prone horses and those with respiratory issues. Steaming is gentler: it kills mould spores and reduces dust without leaching much sugar or nutrients.

For soaking, use plenty of clean water — at least a full bucket per net — for 30 minutes in hot weather and up to 12 hours for maximum sugar reduction. Any longer in warm conditions and the hay starts to ferment. Rinse well and drain before feeding, and never leave soaked hay sitting in the sun.

Steaming is the better choice for a horse that maintains weight easily but coughs, or for cold weather when soaked hay freezes. Commercial steamers work well, but a dustbin and a kettle of boiling water poured over a net, left covered for 20 minutes, achieves much of the same effect.

Haylage, Hay and the Practical Compromise

Haylage is grass cut earlier, wilted and wrapped while still damp, so it ferments rather than dries. It is often dust-free and highly palatable, which suits fussy eaters and horses with poor dentition. But it is usually richer, and an opened bale spoils within a few days in warm weather.

• Feed haylage by weight — a scoop of haylage weighs far less than the same scoop of hay.
• Introduce any change of forage over 7 to 10 days, mixing old and new.
• Store bales off the ground, in a dry, ventilated spot, away from fertiliser, fuel or rodent bait.
• Buy from a consistent source where possible, so you are not fighting a new batch every fortnight.

Reading Your Horse's Response

Your horse is the best feedback you have. Droppings should be well-formed and fairly consistent. Weight can be checked with a weigh tape weekly and by body condition scoring monthly — ribs easily felt but not seen, no cresty neck, no hollow rump.

Watch for stiffness, girthiness, crib-biting, windsucking, or a suddenly dull coat, all of which may point to insufficient forage, ulcers or a digestive upset. A horse that leaves hay uneaten may be telling you it is mouldy, or simply that the net is too high or the hay too coarse.

Adjust gradually, keep records of what you feed and how your horse looks, and you will quickly learn which bale suits which horse. Good forage, chosen thoughtfully and stored well, keeps the gut moving, the lungs clear and the weight steady — the quiet foundation of sound horse care.