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Discussion on Hay
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Member:
Sylvy
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Posted on Thursday, Jul 21, 2005 - 10:52 pm:
Our hayfield was rained on so it is not got much green in it. I feel I should buy some better hay to feed with it. I have a 24 year old mare, a 10 year old Pinto Arabian, one three year old and one four year old in training, one miniature stallion and one pony 15plus years. We ride the mares for pleasure so the only one working hard is the four year old right now. I just don't want them to lose condition as in only a week I notice the older mare does not seem to have the same energy since feeding the poorer quality hay. I'm looking at some hay tomorrow. What's best, what amount of protein do I need to augment what I have?
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Member:
Mrose
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Posted on Friday, Jul 22, 2005 - 12:21 am:
If you will look on this site under "Care of Horses -> nutrition" you will find some good information. If the rained on hay was turned over and properly dried with no mold, then it's not necessarily "bad" hay. But, have a look at the info on this site.
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Friday, Jul 22, 2005 - 7:08 am:
Besides the "Overview on Nutrition" article which should always be reviewed when you have a nutrition / condition problem the article that is most specific to your problem would be Care for Horses » Nutrition » Forages for Horses, an Overview. It will explain about rain's effect on hays and ways to judge it. The articles give likely protein ranges and explain the calculations if you have problems with them let me know.
"Bad hay" is all in the definition and the forage article explains the difference between poor quality and unacceptable. If the former, supplementation with good alfalfa to get the estimated total protein well above 10% and possibly vitamins (see Vitamin Overview), will get your horses frisky again.
DrO
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Member:
Imogen
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Posted on Friday, Jul 22, 2005 - 2:43 pm:
Hey Sylvie it's not that often we manage to make hay without rain in Ireland... you would be amazed what you can get away with. In my view the trick is to make sure any fertiliser used is very low nitrogen eg 10 10 20. I have had hay down for 3 weeks that made ok and kept fine and the horses loved it... If you're not sure get someone expert to come and have a look at it.
best wishes
Imogen
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