Nutrition through hay......

Orchard Grass, Timothy, Alfalfa, Mixes of all three, whatever the kind the number one thing that you want to make sure your horse has enough of during the winter is copious amounts of FREE choice hay! Another pointer here for everybody to remember is that all horses eat up to one or two percent of their body weight in roughage every single day! The better amount of nutrition and calories should ALWAYS come from your horses roughage!

If you have the storage space and equipment to move and manage round bales or large square bales that that will be your best bet in maintaining and managing a larger herd of horses! However, when doing this you always want to make sure that you have a trusted hay dealer with a good hay reputation. Go with somebody you know and not with somebody you don't! As in many cases when farmers are out in the fields working to bale the large square bales or round bales their equipment that they use to bale with can catch up the many dead carcasses of animals along with it, leading to a bacteria causing toxin called Clostridium botulinium toxicosis. There are vaccines in place by your trusted veterinarian that you can give your horse but keep in mind they can be very expensive and they are in rounds of three! When the round bale is delivered or large square bales are delivered YOU have to make sure that you have the set-up to handle something like this as well. To prevent the hay from getting wet I would suggest having a round bale holder with a solid covering and upkeep from the ground as this will prevent the bales from getting moldy if stored incorrectly! If you have a car-port run in shed or any run-in sheds than the round bale or large flakes of the large square bales than they can be put into their as well but the elevation again in any muddy or wet areas in key to prevent your hay from getting wet and in turn later down the road getting moldy!

If you do not have the storage space or equipment to deal with a feat as big as this then having deliveries set up with larger loads of small square bales than this is fine too! Please keep in mind for larger herds of horses the amount of square bales that you throw out will increase as the proper amount of forage for each individual horse is crucial in the winter. This amount goes up for older horses, rescues in poor weight, or any high metabolic breed of horse! MOLD IN YOUR HAY is a big deal for many people that will find themselves getting larger deliveries! Mold can be caused by the farmer cutting the hay too early in the cutting season as this is when the grass is still wet when baled causing the hay to become moldy when it is unable to breath and dry. As well as storing your hay in a faulty barn where it can get wet. Even the smallest amount of water can damage your hay if not caught early enough the mold spores can be tracked onto other bales and spoil those as well! Many people will make the mistake this winter of feeding their horses moldy hay. Even through wetting the hay down if fed to your horse this can cause serious impaction colic to your horses hind gut!

Let's get back on track here! :) What I find that works best if your budget allows and your hay dealer has the space or you have the space is to start saving up in the Summer when your horses are out on pasture grass and you don't have to worry so much about throwing hay out for everybody! Save your cash now as I know that for me this is better said than done, see if you can get larger loads in or buy it off of your hay dealer as he bales and makes it so later down the road you can just go pick up however much you need or in the other case you have however much you need on hand! This will save you time and a headache later when you run out in the middle of winter! In order to determine if your hay is of decent nutritional quality you will want to use the "twist test", the "twist test" is when you take a handful of whatever kind of hay you have on hand not too much but just enough that you can twist. When you have your hay in hand twist it however many times until it breaks apart! If your hay breaks in less than two to three twists than your hay is of good nutritional value for your horse, however this cannot be said for one that is twisting their hay strands four or more times. The more times you have to twist the poorer the nutritional quality is on the other hand the less times you have to twist the better nutritional quality your hay is! Now, I know this is only one way to tell and there are many ways out there but this is the way that seems to work best for me! I hope through reading this you have learned the meaning of the nutritional value through your horses hay! Check back in for more recent reads! :)