Hay is for horses, and necessary to health in winter

Tired of winter yet? I am!

A cartoon I’ve seen passed around seems to enter my mind a lot as the wind blows, snow stings my face and the hay I’m trying to get to my miniature horses threatens to blow out of the wheelbarrow… and let’s not forget the ice underfoot that helps the wind blow me and my wheelbarrow in various directions simultaneously. The cartoon is of a person battling winds with a wheelbarrow of hay and muttering, “I love my horse, I love my horse”.

The horses need their hay. Mine live outdoors with shelter and warmed water buckets but to keep warm and healthy, they need their hay. Hay is broken down in the horse’s hind gut (the area of anatomy that includes the cecum, large intestine, colon etc.) where bacteria does a lot of the digestive work of hay. The hindgut acts like a fermentation vat. The horse’s body has to work to break down the hay and the process provides warmth. It’s like an internal furnace.

Hay gives horses something to do. Chew. Hay prevents unwelcome behaviours like wood chewing and cribbing (sucking in air). Hay prevents digestive upset that can be quite painful and serious, requiring veterinarian assistance. Slow feeder bags and nets are a wonderful way to give them only as much as they need in a 24-hour period of time, but slows down their intake, while still ensuring they always have hay in the system. Hay is necessary and healthy and they should always have access to ensure a healthy digestive tract and needed warmth.

But it’s healthy when it’s the right kind of hay. That it’s green and dust free is important, but there’s more.

Grass hay is the best for the majority of horses. Cut prior to the pre-bloom stage of the seedheads is the most nutritious and softest for chewing. (Not that some chewy hay is a bad thing at all, but as with many things, everything in moderation – too high a chew factor of stemmy hay is nutritionally questionable and creates unwanted and unhealthy hay bellies). Once the seedheads have bloomed, nutritional value goes down significantly and grass becomes tougher.

First cut is your grass hay, but the stage of maturity when it was cut is the deciding factor on quality. Second cut is generally understood to contain alfalfa, a later maturity forage. For obese horses, easy keepers, insulin resistant horses, ponies and miniatures, alfalfa is a no-no. Alfalfa will over-provide for the horses basic simple needs, and create an unnecessary health risk.

Understand that the only way to truly know the nutritional value of your hay is to send a sample to a local forage testing centre. The information received through analysis is key to providing sound nutrition.

On March 4, the Central Ontario Agricultural Conference will be taking place at Georgian College in Barrie. Joel Bagg, the Forage Development Specialist and District Sales Manager, of Quality Seeds and formerly Provincial Forage Specialist for OMAFRA will be speaking on hay production and selection for horses. A Q&A aspect will allow attendees to ask questions regarding their personal situations. It’s a great learning opportunity. To register go to www.centralontarioagconference.ca.

Remember that “you love your horse, you love your horse”. Brave the weather and enjoy their pleasure as you provide their beloved forage.

Wendy Eagle guest lectures for the Equine Behaviour course at Equine Guelph, the faction for horses at Guelph University.