sugar/starch test

[SpikeytheUnicorn]

I have recently heard that hay and sometimes haylage can have very high levels of sugars and starches in it which are bad for horses with laminitis even when it has been soaked.

Therefore I'd like to check my hay is safe to feed before I give it to my horse. He has had laminitis before and it can be quite difficult to manage his weight because he is very greedy.

I was wondering if anyone else does this or is interested in testing their hay/haylage or pasture for sugars and starch before feeding? If you already test for this how do you do it and how often?

Also apart from soaking or steaming hay, what else can you do to reduce or minimize the level of sugars and starches that you are feeding your horse?

 

[thatsmygirl]

Do u buy your hay in? If so it can be very differcult as each lot could be from a different field etc so its not easy. If you grow your own it could be a lot easier and you could keep all fertilisers off the fields. You could get a rough idea by testing but the levels will vary a bit between open field/shady bits/under trees etc

Hay soaked for 12 hrs then rinsed through is your best bet and steaming does not reduce the sugar so I wouldn't use steam for a laminitic.

 

[RobinHood]

We test ours each time we get a new batch in, or if we''re being more organised we test a few different batches and choose the best to buy.

We post it to Equi-analytical in America. It's only $26 for a basic nutritional and mineral spec.

 

[Cheshire Chestnut]

Being honest here - I literally would have no idea where to start in doing this or even what I was looking for.

 

[Micky]

Whilst it is still reasonbly warm, you can soak hay up to 3 hours, when its colder, longer but generally not longer than 6 hours, if so, rinse through.. You can also change your chop to hi fi lite which currently has the lowest sugar/starch of the chops and pick a good vit/min supplement plus if restricted grass, add micronised linseed for added omegas

 

[PorkChop]

I voted not at all, however I may consider it if I had a horse/pony with problems linked to high sugar, but tbh I would just feed them soaked hay.

 

[SpikeytheUnicorn]

I agree that growing our own hay would be a good option though my horse is in livery and our hay is bought in so unfortunately we don't have much say about where our hay comes from.