Hay only diet

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Does anyone just feed their horses hay, no supplements or additives just plain ad lib hay? If yes please can you say why and what you do with your horse ie hacking, competing or at rest. Thank you
 
It wouldn't bother me if it were alongside grass. In fact I think most horses in a medium workload can do well on just grass and hay.

No grass though? I would want a balancer added.
 
I feed hay and only add extra tf the workoad/growing needs of the horse require that. Just buy the best quality forage you can More horses suffer due to being 'overfed' than underfed!
 
I keep mine on track so they get a hay or long dried grass/standing hay diet. But they get a mineral supplement, vitamin e and additional amino acids as all these things would be lacking otherwise.
 
I'm a bit torn, honestly.

My horse has since a couple of months back been on only hay and a salt/mineral lick diet, supplemented with extra selenium because the soil is deficient. She looks amazing and is very sane and rideable, compared to when I was giving her hard feed, supplements (NAF Oestress) and balancers, when she was wired and practically unridable at times.

One part of me wants to give her a vit/min balancer because the forage alone (even with the mineral lick) probably is not enough to cover her micro mineral needs.

Another (the sciencey/objective) part of me questions the whole balancer /supplement "fad" because there are a serious lack of well made, peer reviewed studies on equines.
 
Elno said:
I'm a bit torn, honestly.

My horse has since a couple of months back been on only hay and a salt/mineral lick diet, supplemented with extra selenium because the soil is deficient. She looks amazing and is very sane and rideable, compared to when I was giving her hard feed, supplements (NAF Oestress) and balancers, when she was wired and practically unridable at times.

One part of me wants to give her a vit/min balancer because the forage alone (even with the mineral lick) probably is not enough to cover her micro mineral needs.

Another (the sciencey/objective) part of me questions the whole balancer /supplement "fad" because there are a serious lack of well made, peer reviewed studies on equines.
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If she appears to be calmer and happier on what you are giving her now, why would you want to give her anything else?
 
Elno said:
I'm a bit torn, honestly.

My horse has since a couple of months back been on only hay and a salt/mineral lick diet, supplemented with extra selenium because the soil is deficient. She looks amazing and is very sane and rideable, compared to when I was giving her hard feed, supplements (NAF Oestress) and balancers, when she was wired and practically unridable at times.

One part of me wants to give her a vit/min balancer because the forage alone (even with the mineral lick) probably is not enough to cover her micro mineral needs.

Another (the sciencey/objective) part of me questions the whole balancer /supplement "fad" because there are a serious lack of well made, peer reviewed studies on equines.
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Not so the NRC recommended levels levels for horses diets are scientifically established
 
I’ve a few on hay only diets but I also feedspeedibeet and a good balancer. If they need more calories i add oil
 
bouncing_ball said:
Not so the NRC recommended levels levels for horses diets are scientifically established
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I've actually read the NRC 2007, and the levels may very well be established, but there is still little research on how exactly minerals are taken up, metabolized and utilised by equines.


Pearlsasinger said:
If she appears to be calmer and happier on what you are giving her now, why would you want to give her anything else?
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No reason really, other than the usual second guessing that what if she will show up having severe deficiencies in a couple of years time?
 
I haven't been in the situation where I've had no grass. I'm sure it wouldn't be a problem though. Hay is just dried grass and horses that are kept in desert climates dont have access to grass anyway and they manage fine.
 
Elno said:
I've actually read the NRC 2007, and the levels may very well be established, but there is still little research on how exactly minerals are taken up, metabolized and utilised by equines.




No reason really, other than the usual second guessing that what if she will show up having severe deficiencies in a couple of years time?
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That is extremely unlikely! If there is a problem it is more likely to be a result of the time when she was fed the wrong food that made her 'wired'.
 
Pearlsasinger said:
That is extremely unlikely! If there is a problem it is more likely to be a result of the time when she was fed the wrong food that made her 'wired'.
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I just feel like the odd ball in our yard, I guess ? I'm the only one feeding the way I feed, and it has raised a few brows. Everyone else are fighting over space in our feed room for their hard feed and buckets of every imagineable supplement under the sun even though all the horses are maximum in light work, if even that. But I really like how she looks now, and how her temperament is. I really notice a difference compared to how she was before I stripped everything down to just hay, salt, water and the odd carrot/apple ??‍♀️

But still it seems like a rather unusual diet nowadays, and it feels like everyone, including non brand specific horse nutritionists try to jam some kind of balancer down your throat.
 
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At the moment mine have hay, with ad lib oat straw and nets of barley straw. There is a salt lick but no supplements. Non are in any work and the horse and mule both look well, with the donkey slowly putting on condition. The donkey is the reason for no grass as he is a recovering laminitic.
 
Just hay is likely to be deficient in some things so I would always team it with a balancer ,hay also can high or low in protein and sometimes low in fibre .
But just like people horses can eat a less than ideal diet and survive
 
My 5 front paddocks this year are going to be split into 2 grass paddocks and 3 fatty paddocks that will just have hay and the tiny bit of grass that may grow. Bit of an experiment and only possible this year as I’ve got really good electric fencing. One of mine will just walk through fencing if he’s peckish.

So far this year it’s worked well as the silly boys are all in together and they eat hay and play all day. They’re scruffy looking but look fit and are a much better healthier weight than this time last year.

The babies will be in very managed grass and not allowed to get too fat. It’s a work in progress triggered by looking at my 15 year old horse thinking he needs to be slimmer as he gets older.

I was really suprised when a farmer friend turned round to me yesterday and said that grass isn’t great for horses really. I would be inclined to agree ish.
 
Elno said:
I just feel like the odd ball in our yard, I guess ? I'm the only one feeding the way I feed, and it has raised a few brows. Everyone else are fighting over space in our feed room for their hard feed and buckets of every imagineable supplement under the sun even though all the horses are maximum in light work, if even that. But I really like how she looks now, and how her temperament is. I really notice a difference compared to how she was before I stripped everything down to just hay, salt, water and the odd carrot/apple ??‍♀️

But still it seems like a rather unusual diet nowadays, and it feels like everyone, including non brand specific horse nutritionists try to jam some kind of balancer down your throat.
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It is actually the best diet for a horse in light/medium work. Those who are feeding hard feed are storing up trouble for themselves and their horses. You will find a lot of HHO'ers who feed a forage/high fibre diet.
 
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