Should you soak hay or not

Willoway83

Willoway83

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I've always been told that you must soak you're hay before feeding it to you're horse or pony but last night my riding instructor said that he wouldn't soak hay unless the horse was showing any signs of coughing caused by dust in the hay. Was just wondering what you're thoughts/comments were on the subject :D
 
Hi, you soak it for one or both of two reasons: to get the dust out and/or to reduce the energy content. The longer you soak it for the more energy to rinse out of it so that's a good idea for really good doers who still need to keep the gut functioning properly with sufficient fibre.
 
Turks said:
Hi, you soak it for one or both of two reasons: to get the dust out and/or to reduce the energy content. The longer you soak it for the more energy to rinse out of it so that's a good idea for really good doers who still need to keep the gut functioning properly with sufficient fibre.
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Hi thanks I thought it was a bit strange when he said you don't soak unless horse shows signs of coughing mainly as you said due to the dust content x
 
my vet told me to soak at least for 14 hours to remove most the energy out of the hay and to remove the dust. My old girl was on the dust extracted hay at 6.50 a small bale but now she's no longer ridden vet suggested normal hay soaked would be fine. Have found though that hay varies hugeley in content and mix. Think it depends on the individual horses requirements, no one else on my yard soaks thier hay,i just do whats best for my baby = )
 
You don't soak the grass - unless God does it for you!

Soak if you need to reduce energy content - but bear in mind the most recent research from the Laminitis trust about the length of time. Or for 10 mins or so to damp down dust if the horse is coughing. Otherwise there is really no need to. Soaking too long, soaking in dirty water, or standing soaked hay in the sun increases the risk of botulism which is fatal. Plus soaking in winter if you don't need to is misery!
 
It isn't commonly done in NZ either - mine get their hay from a round bale which sits in the corner of the paddock. It's the same hay as the cows get.

When I was in Dubai in the late '90's everything was imported including the hay. From memory some was Canadian and some was French. We had to wash it simply because it was filthy. There was no way we would feed it unwashed even to our tough Kiwi horses.
 
I start the winter without soaking, towards spring my horse starts to develop a cough as the hay gets more dust on it. As I want the goodness in it, I hose the dust off rather then let it sit in the water. I then hang it to drain, now if my horse didn't need this I would not bother as it is a hassle especially is the hose is frozen!!!!
 
My mare coughs something shocking if she eats dry hay, so I have to soak her haynets for about 15 minutes, them drain them off before offering them. I'm not sure if there's many benefits to it if your horse doesn't mind the dust - it can be quite a bother!
 
My very fussy natives wont eat it if it has been wet so no I don't soak hay they wont even pick it up if it has been rained on. So fattties have to have less of it dry and any that have a cough have to have haylage. Some times people say to me if you didn't give them anything else they would have to eat it but when the poo count dropped below 2 in 24 hours I decided I would rather they ate it dry and did not suffer from colic even if it meant they had a few more calories
 
My vet told me to never feed hay in the UK without soaking it first. There are obviously different opinions on it but after switching one of my older horses onto dry hay when she was originally on haylage I had a horrendous experience;; she coughed so much she couldn't actually walk out of her stable and ended up having steroid injections, ventapulmin and lots of vet visits. Result - I always soak my hay!! If I need more nutrional content I will mix with haylage or steam the hay.
 
It depends on your horse and your hay. We make our own hay and I choose the time of year and type of grass to make it with to keep it fairly low energy for my good doer natives. I've only ever soaked hay for one pony, he had an allergy problem and soaking it before did help him a lot. The year after we made him haylage instead. I also feed straw and they are quite happy to eat that too.
 
Even with the excellent quality hay that I get from my very local and very experienced supplier I hose the hay before feeding it. I don't soak as the boys detest it when you get to the point that the water is starting to turn a funny colour and refuse to eat it. So a quick squoosh with the hose on a high pressure setting to make sure the water goes straight through does the trick. I also feed it in huge buckets with holes in the bottom, so that the water washes out of the bottom, putting it in the buckets keeps the field neater as they just pick out of the top. It also makes it easier to spread out the portions so the old boy doesn't get bullied by the slightly younger boy who thinks all the hay should be for him :) Only slight downside is finding black buckets in the dark - especially if if has been windy and they're not where I left them :(
 
3OldPonies said:
Even with the excellent quality hay that I get from my very local and very experienced supplier I hose the hay before feeding it. I don't soak as the boys detest it when you get to the point that the water is starting to turn a funny colour and refuse to eat it. So a quick squoosh with the hose on a high pressure setting to make sure the water goes straight through does the trick. I also feed it in huge buckets with holes in the bottom, so that the water washes out of the bottom, putting it in the buckets keeps the field neater as they just pick out of the top. It also makes it easier to spread out the portions so the old boy doesn't get bullied by the slightly younger boy who thinks all the hay should be for him :) Only slight downside is finding black buckets in the dark - especially if if has been windy and they're not where I left them :(
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Lol I can imagine that's quite tricky :D as a lot of people have said regarding this I suppose it is a matter of the type of hay and type of horse/pony you have x
 
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