Not allowed to soak hay

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Bramblebear

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I currently keep my horse on a DIY yard and I need to move her to assisted/part due to work pressures. So far the yards I have approached have said that they do not allow hay soaking. It's difficult because my mare has previously had laminitis (not since she's been with me) and I control her by soaking hay. I'm not sure I want to risk not soaking! Another option is using High Fibre Horsehage, but I'm worried this might not work? Any experiences? Or mixing hay with oat straw?

Is not soaking hay a common yard rule? I want to know what I'm up against!
 
I've never known this to be a yard rule before - all I can think is that liveried yards want to make jobs easier for themselves?
 
soaked hay produces effluent and I think this yard rule will become more common-effluent is not meant to go into ditches and water ways but should be drained into pipes and getting rid of it can be expensive
 
I don't think it's toxic it just can't go into the water ways it's sugars and nutrients that shouldn't be in the water systems. Can you not suggest you will empty the water on grass or something? Do any hoses reach into a paddock?
 
Bramblebear said:
I currently keep my horse on a DIY yard and I need to move her to assisted/part due to work pressures. So far the yards I have approached have said that they do not allow hay soaking. It's difficult because my mare has previously had laminitis (not since she's been with me) and I control her by soaking hay. I'm not sure I want to risk not soaking! Another option is using High Fibre Horsehage, but I'm worried this might not work? Any experiences? Or mixing hay with oat straw?

Is not soaking hay a common yard rule? I want to know what I'm up against!
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Never ever heard this before and it is very wrong for a yard not to allow this, not only horses with lami but horses with copd or asthma.
I would not stay on a yard with this ruling which is very strange and very wrong.
 
I love my haycube as you can wheel it around so you can place it where you like to fill and empty (gravel, grass if run Off an issue). Maybe worth asking if they would allow this?
 
Unsoaked hay but reduce the amount and replace it with chopped straw? I physically cant manage heavy soaked hay and mine can eat 5kgs of hay in a trickle net in a few hours! So he gets that and then a huge tub trug of chopped straw. He doesnt like it, so only eats it when hes actually hungry, whereas he will binge on hay!
 
Frankly, the whole lamminitis/sugars in hay ,thing is on a pretty shaky scientific footing. Yes I do believe that a lamminitis prone pony may suffer if fed best quality s22 Italian ryegrass hay cut in early June. But the average meadow hay ,generaly cut late for greater yield (and better haymaking weather ) is pretty low on the sugar content.
 
What a pain, I am on part livery and they do soaked hay for my forester, and one of the other native ponies as well, but YO has native ponies and cobs so does understand the risks of laminitis. My pony also wears his muzzle out in the field as do some of the others.

It has been proven soaking hay does make a difference to the sugar content and unless you can get some very old hay with might be less high in sugar but also possibly more dusty you may have to try the high fibre horsehage or look at mixing hay in with straw.
 
I don't soak hay, it's horrible! Can't you just buy poorer quality hay & steam it to reduce dust?

I have a very lami prone 25 year old pony, I buy her the hay the local farmer cuts off unfertilised fields in late summer, he calls it his 'rough cut', doesn't usually sell it to horse owners because they're not interested. Costs me £2 a small bale, steamed it smells as good as any other hay. A full trickle net to last her all night & everyone is happy & no lami.
 
Yes but buying poor hay that is dust free is not that easy I got a load in to a small lorry, and the guy [who had horses] said no one else woud take it, so I got the last ten bales for free, and I think it ws £100 for 50, lasted my three ponies all winter,
I would never buy dusty hay and made that clear before I went.
 
As a yard owner in a nitrogen vulnerable zone with a fussy local authority, I cannot see that there is anything dangerous in the run off from soaked hay. I suspect more it could be the cost of water rates, perhaps you could harvest rain water as much as possible and use for soaking if this is the case. Otherwise I feel it's a yard without it's clients needs being a priority, so try and find somewhere else. We have been advised in the past to use soaked good quality hay for certain conditions by our equine vets. Poor quality hay should not be used. Sometimes if you can find some second cut it won't be so rich.
Bad luck. I know there are some tricky livery owners, but really, this sounds OTT of the yard!
 
Mike007 said:
Frankly, the whole lamminitis/sugars in hay ,thing is on a pretty shaky scientific footing. Yes I do believe that a lamminitis prone pony may suffer if fed best quality s22 Italian ryegrass hay cut in early June. But the average meadow hay ,generaly cut late for greater yield (and better haymaking weather ) is pretty low on the sugar content.
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hmm, I dislike soaking hay and avoid it like the plague but having my hay tested it was at 14% WSC-it always was good quality hay but I was surprised at that, it being good stalky stuff. A friend had a different supply analysed and that was at 22%! It's something to bear in mind when you have small natives like we both do.

The run off from soaking hay is effluent-it may be that this LO is being 'tight' with the water rates or maybe they just dread everyone wanting to soak and there being a lot of effluent. For the odd animal needing it for veterinary reasons its one thing, having 20 horses having soaked hay its a different matter, especially if its going into a septic.
 
Ask the yard what their objections are. is it effuent disposal rules? health and safety - soaked hay is heavy to handle and there is a real slipping risk this time of year? what happens if the weather is icy? and that's without the water rates cost (I keep my ponies at home- the summer we needed to soak hay for two ponies our water bill trebled) Might be worth discussing if there are ways round this with the yard. They may have had a bad experience with a former client who soaked hay so are being very cautious.

Otherwise a high-fibre haylage may suit, check the analysis of various brands to see what is most suitable. I now use a horse specific branded one rather than soaked hay, more expensive on the face of it but taken with the reduction in water bills, convenience and useability in icy weather and very little hard feed needed then for me it's worth it.
 
we have many here on wet hay - would never tell people they cannot soak their hay > i cannot give my boy haylage as it blows his head off and he gets squitty
 
I'm soaking hay at the moment and am feeling a bit guilty as I know farmer is on a water meter. This could be the reason.
 
Native ponies and cobs are very popular now and soaking hay is often needed as part of a weight management program along with exercise and muzzling in situation where there may be more grass than is suitable for them. Finding good part livery yards that cater for these types is not easy as traditionally the part or full livery customers have tended to be have the finer breeds more commonly used as competition horses. As more people work longer hours and have longer commutes I think the demand for part livery yards that can cater for a wider range of horses or ponies will be in demand.

Maybe YO need to take this into consideration and if cost of water is an issue charge a price that covers the cost of hay soaking. Soaking hay may not be needed all year round once there is less grass and if the weather is colder. Soaking hay is not the only source of water consumption if you have a lot of competition horses on the yard that are washed a lot that uses up a lot of water as well as does hosing off legs or hosing off after riding in hot weather.
 
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Have you thought about getting your forage tested for its sugar content? Some of the large feed companies do this for a modest fee. You may be soaking it un-necessarily. My yard don't like to soak but will if pushed. It's all about a number of factors including disposal of the water after soaking, staff handling wet hay, the time it takes, space etc etc. My lad (a highland) had a mild bout of something the vet thought was lami back in the spring but he's now on a molasses free diet and the yard's own haylage and is fine and never had another attack (thankfully).
 
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