If you soak hay, roughly how long do you soak it for?

[Beanriding]

Yesterday I posted a poll about trying to prevent a horse getting cast in the stable and found the responses really interesting and useful to see what people actually do in practice.

I’m curious about something similar when it comes to soaking hay for overweight horses/ponies (whether they have laminitis/specific conditions or are just overweight).

There seems to be quite a lot of variation in advice - some people soak for long periods, some only briefly, and others not at all. I’ve also seen more recently discussion suggesting shorter soak times may be enough to reduce sugars without stripping too much else out, and of course some horses simply won’t eat heavily soaked hay.

I thought it might be interesting to get a general sense of what people here actually do in practice. I'd also be interested if people rinse it after or not.

 

[asmp]

I soak briefly to reduce the dust so under 30 mins but there wasn’t a button for that! (Clicked other)

 

[FieldOrnaments]

To reduce sugars an hour is removes "most" sugars and longer times tend to leach out vitamins (especially vitamin A) as well, but for practical reasons we soak two lots a day morning and night so 12hrs each then drained and rinsed

 

[Beanriding]

I soak briefly to reduce the dust so under 30 mins but there wasn’t a button for that! (Clicked other)

Ah, I knew I was missing an option but couldn't think what! Thanks for responding to the poll though

 

[whirlwind]

Another who does 10 mins or so just to get rid of dust

 

[MuddyMonster]

I soak mi e to reduce sugar for metabolic stuff. The length of time I soak for varies though.

Through Autumn - Spring it's 8-12 hours.

In the Summer, it's usually 3-5 hours. In v.hot weather it's an hour or so as I find fermentation/bacterial growth becomes more of an issue in Summer weather.

Always rinse after soaking though.

 

[Midlifecrisis]

There are a number of hay soaking threads somewhere….long soaking times only work if the water is regularly changed so that the process of osmosis pulls sugars from hay into water.

 

[dottylottie]

i’ve always soaked for 12 hours or so for fatties, due to convenience though because i’m there AM/PM, always rinse well afterwards.

i’ve soaked for a couple of hours in the past if i’ve forgotten, but my issue with that is the amount of water that then drains out onto the stable floor

 

[dorsetladette]

I don't soak at the moment as they have adlib hay in the field from a hay feeder. But I have previously soaked hay as follows.

Laminitic and fatties - over night or a full day. Bath on the yard with a full small bale in filled and sat from morning feed to tea time feed or over night. drained and rinsed before feeding.

Breathing issues/COPD - steamed (nothing fancy - in a plastic dustbin with a kettle and boiling water and the lid on) or soaked/rinsed for 30 mins to an hour before feeding.

I was on a yard where the (self appointed) yard manager insisted everything was 'soaked' before feeding. nets were submerged in water briefly and then left up to 24hours (a days worth of nets done every evening) to 'drain' before feeding. It never sat right with me, the hay was practically dry again by the time it was fed. In the time I had a horse there it don't have any ill effects on any of the horses, but just not a practise I would choose to repeat.

 

[Surbie]

I soak to minimise dust - and under 30 mins usually so clicked on 'other'.

We're metered so I just use what my horse hasn't drunk the night before as soaking water. It works out, as if I didn't soak the hay & fed it dry he would drink the whole trug dry. And have a hacking cough.

Big trug - netted hay in and turned every 5 minutes - 4-5 turns, then hung over the trug to drain. I've been doing this for the last nearly 5 years. In winter I do it in the mornings, in summer just before bringing in as I don't want it sitting around in the warm for long. When it's really cold/hot I switch to haylage.

 

[alibali]

I submerged hay then drain immediately to reduce dust. Drain for 30 mins before feeding.