haylage and laminitic horses?

No and I really wouldn't. Check with your vet, but I'm sure it's not a good idea. I always feed hay that has been soaked overnight to get all the googness out of it and haylage is richer than hay.
 
Yep Will has it pretty much ad lib but always very limited grass. Always thought it was not for laminitics but the vet reckons much of the nasty fructans gets used up in the fermentation process in the same way drying grass does it for hay. Wouldn't feed it to a horse that was actually suffering from an attack tho
 
Yes I have. Used the High Fibre and Timothy varieties of Horsehage, which are marketed as safe for laminitics. Pony had serious laminitic tendency, but was fine on these.

Really it is the variety of grass and the time of cutting which are the real factors to worry about, rather than whether it is hay or haylage. Rye grass is usually high in fructans and therefore rye grass hay or haylage is best avoided for laminitics. Originally, most haylages were made from rye grass, but nowadays there is much more choice. Also the time of cutting affects the fructans levels, early cut hay/haylage is higher in fructans than hay/haylage cut later in the summer.

However, I wouldn't go feeding standard big bale haylage to a laminitic without getting an analysis done first.
 
Completely agree TGM, I use the blue horsehage all the time for my laminitic & she does fine on it. However, if she was having an attack I would revert to hay until completely fine again.
 
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