Hay or not?

O

Overgrown Pony

Well-Known Member
Joined
27 November 2007
Messages
604
Location
Scotland
Visit site
Hey guys

I have just put my horse onto 15 acres of fantastic clean, dry, mud free grazing to give him a break from the mud pit he was in at livery.

I'm swithering whether or not to put hay/haylage out for him. The grass is around 5" long but I understand there will be very minimal nutritional value in it at this time of year. He gets all his vits & mins in his hard feed. He's out 24/7.

What do you think? Should I put out haylage too or will he not need it with so much grass?

Cheers
 
If he's a good weight at the moment then no I wouldn't for the time being. Not sure what your weather is like but down in Devon it's 7/8 degrees so the grass is still growing/albeit slowly.

Monitor him and if he's dropping weight or the weather turns really cold then you might want to him some.
 
Don't you believe it when they say there's no nutritional value in winter grass. Ours are just finishing strip grazing the winter field and have been putting on weight due to us being a bit soft with them in the wet weather and moving the tape a bit further than normal.
 
I have 2 and half horses in 2.8 acres (which is only used Dec to March) they have stopped eating the hay I put out as the grass is still growing here.
If you're really concerned why don't you put half a bale out, if they scoff it carry on putting it out - if they ignore it or use it as a nice pee area - leave them without any for a few weeks then test again.
 
1 horse in 15 acres? No hay/haylage and no hard feed as won't need it if he's got all that to himself. If you're concerned about vits/mins, get a good powder balancer like Forage plus or Pro Earth's Pro Balance (cheaper than Forage plus) and put in a cup (wet weight) of speedibeet or fast fibre. If the horse is in genuine medium/hard work then up the beet or FF and add oil.
 
If you are at all worried, put a slice out for him and see if he eats it. I know when my lot are happy with the grass because they won't touch hay -there was quite an obvious moment when they started eating hay over the grass they did have so moved them toa new field and now they are not touching the hay again. If your horse is well covered I would just see how it goes on grass and some small feed of balancer or vits and mins and some linseed for omega3 which winter grass lacks
 
Thanks for all your replies guys!

He's in heaven with all this grass :)

I'll go for no hay/haylage and see how he gets on. I only put him in there yesterday afternoon and he's not stood at the fence looking to be fed yet. He's not come up for air, too busy grazing :)

Will carry on with his hardfeed to cover the vits & mins.

Cheers :)
 
Overgrown Pony said:
Thanks for all your replies guys!

He's in heaven with all this grass :)

I'll go for no hay/haylage and see how he gets on. I only put him in there yesterday afternoon and he's not stood at the fence looking to be fed yet. He's not come up for air, too busy grazing :)

Will carry on with his hardfeed to cover the vits & mins.

Cheers :)
Click to expand...

Which hard feed are you using? To get the recommended amount of vits/mins from a compound mix you have to feed at full rations (anywhere between 1-5kg per day), which can also mean an unhealthy amount of sugar (depending on the feed) and the grass is still producing sugars etc. (even in Scotland), and you run the real risk of having problems either during spring or just after.
 
my horses are on good grass, they only have just started a slice of hay a day and one is hunting, they dont get a full ration of hard feed either, i give them a scoop of supplement vits & mins to make sure they are covered, as others have said the grass is still growing slowly, its like spring here today.
 
Can you not put him a tiny net of decent hay? If he eats it he needs it, if he doesn't, fetch it in and offer it again each day. If you give him hay there is no guarantee he will eat it anyway - let him tell you whether he wants it or not.
 
I've yet to own a horse that will eat hay or haylage in the field if there is any grass to be had, mine will scrape snow off the grass rather than eat haylage. Personally, I think any hay put out will just get wasted.
JillA said:
Can you not put him a tiny net of decent hay? If he eats it he needs it, if he doesn't, fetch it in and offer it again each day. If you give him hay there is no guarantee he will eat it anyway - let him tell you whether he wants it or not.
Click to expand...
 
He was in this same field when I bought him 2 Februaries ago, again with loads of grass. I put out a big round bale of haylage and it wasn't touched, hence me wondering if it's nutritionally necessary at this time of year as I don't think he'll bother with it.
 
its not nutritionally needed but I feed hay year round regardless of how good the grazing is-helps keep their gut consistent. personally think its a good idea if they are having a change of grazing-doesnt have to be much.

I wish is was spring like up here-currently gusting up to 60mph and sleeting :( grass is still growing though.
 
MotherOfChickens said:
its not nutritionally needed but I feed hay year round regardless of how good the grazing is-helps keep their gut consistent. personally think its a good idea if they are having a change of grazing-doesnt have to be much.

I wish is was spring like up here-currently gusting up to 60mph and sleeting :( grass is still growing though.
Click to expand...
I do too. I have loads of grazing in all of my pasture fields during summer but I always hay all year round. It's amazing just how often all the horses come back to their hay during the summer.

I wish I could see the grass. Haven't seen green for months!
 
Why do they pee on the hay, my boy seemed to have a habit of this even if he knew that he only got fed it twice a day, as soon as I left the barn he pee-ed straight away [as told by YO] Also saw him doing it in his winter field.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top