Soaking hay, full time work, winter...?

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palomino698

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My ponies have always been fine on dry hay. Now one has gone down with our first ever bout of laminitis, she is on box rest and the vet advises soaking her hay for 12 hours. Obviously it needs to drain well before feeding so it doesn't saturate her bed.

The ponies are at home, they get breakfast at 06.30 and we've all left for work by 08.00. First person gets home between 4.30 and 5pm.

I'm thinking of soaking overnight, taking out to drain in the morning, to feed the next night, (and for the morning, soak all day, drain all night for next morning's feed - but in freezing weather I imagine it will be frozen into the bin in the morning, and will have frozen again by the evening feed. What do other full-time working owners do? Put the soaked haynet into a bin or bag and pour a kettle of water over it to steam before feeding, as I used to do with dry hay for a wheezy old boy?
 
I have the same problem - I soak for longer though - and rinse the hay off with more fresh water after taking out of soak. I am not sure it is a good idea to leave for long periods before feeding (after a long soak). It can go rancid and pretty disgusting.

My hay sometimes freezes into a popsicle in the soak bucket. Yes I use a kettle of boiling water to get it out.

If the whole lot is washed through and then has a kettle or two of boiling water tipped over then I find it drips dry enough to be put in stable.

On non freezing days I hang it high (after its been washed through post soak) to let it drip while I muck out etc. Again by the time I'm done its dry enough to put in.

But - I do leave a patch clear of shavings where the hay goes - and I feed from the floor.

The alternative is to put the soaked and washed hay in one of those enormous trug buckets (about 16 gallons I think). One of those easily takes 5-6 kg soaked hay. I have had to put a brick in the bottom previous as my horse likes to tip it out.
 
Thanks - yes, I'm concerned about leaving it so long between taking out to drain, and actually feeding it. The pony needs to be on deep shavings so clearing the floor isn't really an option, but putting the wet hay into a big rubber bucket could certainly work, I hadn't thought of that. She isn't a messy eater, the only problem is she'll eat it a lot quicker without a small-holed net slowing her down!
 
Like LucyPriory I feed soaked hay straight away after letting it drip while I do the other chores.
I have a tie ring right beside the stable door and luckily the floor slopes towards the door slightly so the run off simply flows outside. I keep the area free from shavings otherwise it would just be manky and horrible and she doesn't stand there anyway so it doesn't affect the feet being supported.
 
I used to steam my hay for my old gelding during the winter, 1 large dustbin with lid and approx 3 kettles worth of boiling water. Much preferred this to leaving hay soaking for 12 hrs plus. Also easier for when the yard water froze as used minimal water. I work full time and it worked fine, just made sure hay nets were ready - kettles pre filled (2) and ready to go as soon as I arrived at yard in the morning.

My horse seemed to prefer the steamed hay to the soaked ...

Plus used to have other liveries who soaked their hay and used to tip the water over the yard without thinking - leaving ice rinks behind them - but that is another story:D
 
I soak the hay in a trug tub and then tip it right up (so the tub is upside down) and leave to drain for 10-20mins before feeding this stops the stable from getting wet. Also, as others have suggested you could leave it in the tub and the pony could eat out of it.
 
we have always had 2 dustbins, one that never leaves the stable except for cleaning, and one next to the hay pile. We put the hay to soak in the water bin whilst we feed and muck out the horses, we then take the hay out of the water and put it in the empty bin in the stable.
 
Research has shown that hay only needs to be soaked for 20 mins. One of our old NF ponies has lami as vet thinks she also has cushings and he said hay only needs to be soaked for 20 mins.

We have a few tubtrugs but mainly use a water butt as with the tap it is so much easier to get rid of the water.
 
A top vet said at a laminitis talk the other day not to soak for longer than 30-40 mins or mould starts to grow! I usually soak mine in a dustbin, then pull the haynet by the cord so that the bin tips over and the net flops out of the dustbin onto a car tyre (the top of the bin lands on the tyre too so it doesn't damage it. Saves back ache!) Hay drains through the tyre for 5 mins or so then a hang it.
 
My lami prone mare needs her hay soaked and I have 2 huge stubbs truggs. I soak 2 nets all day and 2 nets all night, rinse and let them drain by habging them on the gate.

I was told to soak for 12hours, is this true you only have to soak for 40mins?
 
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