Is it ok to feed....

[Sneedy]

Haylage to a horse with a history of laminitis??

My friend is moving her horse to the yard where my chap is kept and haylage is part of the 'deal'. She is a very well managed lamanitic eventer (was very bad luck that she got laminitis and cause is still unknown

). She feeds her (in no great quantity) HiFi and Allen and Page Sustain, but is willing to ditch the mix for a bit of cool mix, and soaked hay.

At the moment she is just about right in the weight department, tends to be on the light side rather than fat!! She has not had any lami issues for the last 12months or so.

So what would haylage do to her, would it agrivate the lami or would it be a good thing as she is so well managed??? Any help gratefully received as we are totally confused......

Thank you

 

[katylee]

i think as long as it isnt feed excessively then it is fine, i guess a bit like anything for a lami. but have a look at the marksway horehage website they have info on there. but i am a bit of the old if it aint broke.......can she buy in hay?

 

[Sneedy]

I know what you mean, she can get the YO to supply hay but would then have to soak it and haylage is sooooo much easier.

 

[TGM]

Is there any chance she could get the haylage analysed? The thing is there are many different types of haylage, and the sugar content (which could be a lami trigger) will vary according to the type of grasses used and the time that the haylage was cut.

By the way, I wouldn't recommend feeding cool mix to a laminitic as it is 20% starch (assuming Spillers brand). (Starch and sugar are both soluble carbohydrates which are known to be a trigger for laminitis). Something like Spillers High Fibre cubes would be a better choice at 10% starch and also Laminitis Trust Approved.

 

[Sneedy]

Thanks for the advice, I had no idea that cool mix was so laden with starch. I mentioned to her about a high fibre feed and after checking the allen and page web site the Sustain looks quite suitable.
Not sure about the haylage analysis as I would imagine results would vary from bale to bale so not consistent enough to make a decision. Think its prob best she sticks with the hay and not risk any changes as the balance seems ok at the mo!
Thanks again!!