Cheapest type/way of providing forage?

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Ziggy_

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With the cost of hay etc rising rapidly in my area, I was wondering what ways people have of making feeding horses as cost effective as possible without drastically reducing the amount of hay fed? Is it cheapest to use hay, haylage or something else? Suggestions for cost-cutting this winter please!
 
I think hay is still the cheapest way tbh. Perhaps shop around for cheaper suppliers if you are paying over the odds.....

That and grass....obviously!
 
About 12 years ago hay went to £6 a bale in the SE so I fed barley straw (£1.50) for the winter . To be fair it was only to the kids 11.3 pony who did very well on it.....not sure it would be good for anything that needed feed value from its forage but it kept his tummy full! If only it was good for TBs!
 
Grass is good if you can get hold of more grazing. Many horses do well off grass even in winter if there is plenty of it. Also big bale haylage if your horses can eat it before it wastes.
 
Years ago me ex wanted a shire, and we went to Brookfields shires to see a gorgeous chap (we bought him) they were being fed pea straw and all looked smashing on it.

Never seen it about anywhere though and don't know a thing about it.

Barley straw + my piggy Trakehner mare = £2k vets bill for colic.
 
The cheapest way to feed your horse is grazed grass, however if you cannot access more grazing then the simplest option would be to feed haylage, of good quality, not necessarily the cheapest as there is a lot of rubbish about. Then only feed any hard feed if he really needs it, depending on how good a doer he is or how much work etc. D and H recommend that horses in light work source 95% of their feed requirements from forage
 
Pea or bean straw is fab- similar to Alfa-alfa- it was the only thing that didnt set off my old TB's COPD related allergies. I never found it commercially available but my local hay making farmer would bale whatever i needed for the winter (used to get through 3 bales a week) in one go and it was dead cheap- around a £1 a bale collected off the field BUT he would only bale it to order so may well be too late for this year.
Otherwise its a case of approaching local farmers with cash and see what deals they will do. My local chap will supply 4 large bales of haylege, delivered for £10 less than if i collected single bales from him.
 
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