Moronic question, sorry - difference between feeding hay or haylage?

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billylula

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Daughter wants to give our pony haylage instead of hay as extra feed this winter. I know that haylage is wet and more expensive :o and that's about the extent of it. I am old and in my day ponies all wore snaffles and ate hay :)
 
Haylage isnt, or shouldnt be wet, the stuff i usually have is almost like hay. Its usually cheaper than hay as well, or it is round here anyway.
 
There are different types of haylage, depending on the grass used and the time of year the grass was cut. The higher fibre, lower sugar types are unlikely to heat horses/ponies up. Haylage can be useful if you have a horse with respiratory problems as it is much less dusty.

Why does your daughter want to feed haylage? Are you going to be using small bale or large bale haylage? Branded small bale often comes in different types and there is usually a 'high fibre' one in the range suitable for leisure ponies as opposed to hard working horses. If it is big bale supplied by the yard then you will need to ask to see what type it is.
 
I think she wants to pep him up a bit as she is going to be hunting quite a lot and he is not hugely forward goign (thats another thread!!). We would have to store it ourselves so I would go with small bales. What actually is it??
 
Basically, haylage is cut grass just as hay is. However, whereas hay is dried to preserve it, haylage is wrapped in plastic. Haylage therefore has more moisture in it, and tends to retain more nutrients than hay. When haylage first appeared on the scene it tended to be used for high level competition horses/racehorses, so was made from high calorie, early cut ryegrass, which is where its reputation as 'rocket fuel' comes from! But as said above, there are lots of types available now, suitable for a range of horses and ponies.

I would choose something like Horsehage's High Fibre if you are using small bale. Horsehage can be expensive, but often local firms do their own similar range of small bale, which are cheaper. I feed all mine on haylage, whether they are horses or ponies.
 
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Thank you that is very interesting. He is a native breed and an extremely good doer (tbh he doesn't need much except grass and a salt lick!).
 
If he is a very good doer then I would definitely only use a High Fibre type version. Does he lives in or out? Haylage can be tastier than hay, and is often eaten quicker, so could be a problem if pony is stabled at night as he could munch through his ration of haylage very quickly. Not so much of a problem if out, as you can just give him enough to maintain the correct weight because he will still have a bit of grass to pick at once he has finished.

I must say I am not convinced, though, that feeding haylage will do much to pep the pony up if it is really lazy!
 
Ive had real behavioural difficulties with feeding haylage ( it was all that was available on a previous livery yard) to my pony and horse, both tended to be laid back, i guess if you want more oomph it could work.
 
xxMozlarxx said:
Ive had real behavioural difficulties with feeding haylage ( it was all that was available on a previous livery yard) to my pony and horse, both tended to be laid back, i guess if you want more oomph it could work.
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The trouble is, the type of haylage that could give 'oomph' is the high calorie, early cut, rye-grass type. However, if that type is feed to a very good doer lazy pony it will probably just pile the pounds on rather than spark him up!
 
I feed all the horses and ponies here haylage. I have two types from the same supplier. The mare and foal and the big warmblood who is in medium work have the high energy rye grass haylage. The other four have low energy high fibre meadow grass haylage. Both types are very dry, almost like hay. I have never had a problem with horses getting too fizzy on it. I do have a problem with slowing their eating down though and the good doers have very small holed hay nets.
 
Just wanted to say that if your daughter is taking him hunting, I don't think she will have any problem with him not being forward!
 
Wagtail said:
Just wanted to say that if your daughter is taking him hunting, I don't think she will have any problem with him not being forward!
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Agree with that - and if he is still not forward whilst out hunting, I think I would suspect that something is wrong physically.
 
I've had to swap from haylage to hay as my TB is allergic to the mould that sometimes occurs in haylage - came out in hives everywhere :( I'm feeding less hay as they aren't getting through as much, plus its cheaper.
 
TGM said:
The trouble is, the type of haylage that could give 'oomph' is the high calorie, early cut, rye-grass type. However, if that type is feed to a very good doer lazy pony it will probably just pile the pounds on rather than spark him up!
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TGM said:
Agree with that - and if he is still not forward whilst out hunting, I think I would suspect that something is wrong physically.
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Agree with both of these posts! I have heavy x native who is so laid back he's horizontal (unless he's being a spooky sod!) who I fed haylage to - he ate most of it within 3 hours and made no difference to his energy levels.

Out hunting however he is totally different, usually up front (and being a 14.1 heavy lad that's some doing!) and brakes are iffy not matter what bit I use!
 
We feed my son's pony half haylage, half hay, and he does very well on it. The haylage helps maintain his weight as is not a very 'good-doer', and does not seem to affect his temperament.

Our haylage is made of meadow hay and usually cut in July. It comes pretty much dry so keeps longer, which is a bonus.

We also feed less hard feed as the nutritional content of haylage is higher than hay, so saves money too.
 
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