Horse will only eat haylage! Alternatives?

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AmyP28

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My 7 year gelding lives out 24/7 (rugged to the nines when needed of course). We have a lot of grass available most of the year so we only use hay in the winter occasionally.

The problem is - when travelling etc, he will not touch hay in a net inside the box, tied up outside or even when given on the yard while mane trimming etc.

I borrowed a couple of bales of haylage from a friend and of course he absolutely loves it!! Will stand all day at shows to eat it and be fussed with at home. Go back to a normal haynet and he doesn’t want it (will eat it when given in the field during depths of winter of course).

I don’t mind buying haylage but because it goes off so quickly I wasted half the bale which is not sustainable long term.

Are there any alternatives to haylage or solutions I could try? I.e. are there any retailers that sell smaller bags of haylage I can use for travelling to lessons a couple of times a week? Would soaking the hay make it more attractive to him?

Thanks!
 
Does he have to have a net when travelling or at a show? Haylage is like chocolate to a lot of horses whereas hay is often less enticing.

I would experiment with steaming some hay as it does usually make it smell very nice.
 
eggs said:
Does he have to have a net when travelling or at a show? Haylage is like chocolate to a lot of horses whereas hay is often less enticing.

I would experiment with steaming some hay as it does usually make it smell very nice.
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He’s a lot more relaxed when he has a haylage net to chomp on (can be quite stressy in new venues and not exactly a relaxed traveller) so I like to take something with me. Thank you for the suggestion of steaming :)
 
In the winter an open bag can last up to about 7 or 8 days, summer about 3. I plan on feeding it over winter as limited hay in my area (and difficult to store), I will easily get through a bag every 3 days 😳
 
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