Finding Forage
Hay
shortages & poor pastures demand horse
owners find alternative forages.
By Jill
Haight
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| With
hay in short supply this season, finding quality baled hay has
become a challenge for many horse owners throughout the southeast.
To further complicate matters many areas are not receiving adequate
rain, which has resulted in poor grazing land. However, there
are alternative ways to provide your horses with the forage,
or long-stemmed fiber, that they need. How
important is forage to the horse?
After water, forage is the most important part of a horse’s
diet. In order for the horse’s digestive tract to function
properly, the horse must have an adequate amount of long-stemmed
fiber or roughage in their daily diet. The horse is a grazing
animal and their digestive tracts are designed to process
forage almost continuously. Horses with free access to pasture,
or those in the wild, will graze approximately 18 - 20 hours
per day. Not only do horses have a physical need for long-stemmed
fiber, they also have a psychological need to chew.
How
much is enough? |
Sparse pastures
are not an adequate supply of roughage in the horse’s
diet and must be supplemented additional forage. |
Ideally,
horses should consume between 1.5% and 2.5% of their body
weight daily in forage. This means that a 1,000 pound horse
should consume 15 – 25 pounds of hay or other forage
per day. A minimum of 1% of body weight daily is needed to
maintain normal digestive function. Inadequate amounts of
forage in the diet can lead to health problems such as ulcers,
colic and other gastric issues. Additionally, horses that
don’t receive adequate “chew time” during
the day can develop behavioral problems such as cribbing,
wood chewing and stall weaving.
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| Alternative
Forage Sources
While baled hays and fresh pasture grass are the most common
forages fed to horses, there are other forms that are readily
available when hay is in short supply.
Bagged
Forages
A great alternative to baled hay is bagged hay. At first glance,
these bagged forages simply look like chopped hay in a bag.
However, bagged hays such as those from Lucerne Farms, actually
have many advantages over baled hays. Rather than being sun-cured
like traditional baled hays, these forages are high-temperature
dried and chopped prior to bagging. The processing of the
chopped hay both destroys harmful mold spores and virtually
eliminates dust. Another advantage of bagged hays is that
they are consistent in both quality and texture and they come
with a guaranteed nutritional analysis.
There
are several different hay types available, including Timothy,
alfalfa, oat hay and various blends of the three. This variety
will give you the flexibility to choose the perfect forage
to suit your horse’s individual needs. Chopped forages
can be used to
|
A
lack of long-stemmed fiber in the horses diet can cause behavioral
problems such as wood chewing and cribbing.
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| “stretch”
your limited supply of hay or can used as the sole source of
forage in the diet.
Cubed
Hays
Alfalfa cubes and other varieties of cubed hays are a popular
choice for many horse owners. Not only are cubed hays readily
available but they are a great value too.
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Pound-for-pound hay cubes offer many advantages over baled
hay. Firstly, there is virtually no waste when feeding cubes.
Horses fed long-stemmed hay tend to separate the leaves
from the stems and consume only the parts they prefer; this
does not happen with cubes. Also no hay is lost during the
feeding or transportation process. Additionally, cubed hays
simplify feeding management by making it easier to weigh
forage and control the horse’s daily intake. Storage
is also a plus because cubed hays take up less room, are
easier to store and transport than bales, and have a relatively
long shelf-life.
|
Hay
cubes are a readily available source of forage for the horse. |
While
Alfalfa cubes are the most common cubed hay, Timothy/Alfalfa
Cubes are becoming quitepopular. Both forms are readily
available in the Southeast. Cubed hays are typically fed
dry and given along with the horse’s daily feed
ration. Older horses with poor teeth or horses with respiratory
allergies will benefit from the cubes being soaked in
water prior to feeding.
Cubed hays can provide 100% of the roughage in the horse’s
diet or they can be used along with other hays and forages.
However, cubed hays should not be offered free-choice as
horses tend to over consume them.
Haylage
|
Haylage is hay that has been preserved by ensiling rather
than traditional drying. Haylage is a good source of roughage
and other nutrients for horses and like other bagged hays
it has a guaranteed nutrient analysis. However, it does have
a higher moisture content than hay and it will require a higher
feeding rate. Another disadvantage of haylage is that it can
easily mold in humid weather and it is not readily available
in many areas.
Whether
you choose bagged forages or cubed hays your horse will welcome
the additional forage in his diet.
|
Horses
with free access to hay or pastures will graze 18 –
20 hours per day.
|
Roughage,
Fiber or Forage? |
These
terms are often used interchangeably, but most would
agree that they have somewhat different meanings when
used in reference to the dietary needs of the horse.
Roughage,
in simple terms, refers to dietary fibers. These fibers
are the non-soluble carbohydrates found in grains, hays
& grasses. Forage, however, can be described as
‘feed, which provides the long-stemmed fiber needs’
of the horse, according to specialists at Purdue University.
Long-stemmed
fibers are those that have a stem-length of 1 inch or
more. Long-stemmed fiber is important in the diet because
it provides “scratch factor” as it moves
through the horse’s digestive tract. This “scratch
factor” is needed to maintain proper gut function,
intestinal motility and psychological health. A lack
of long-stemmed fiber, or forage, in the diet can increase
the incidence of cribbing, wood chewing, gastric ulcers
and colic.
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Jill
is the editor of ec Magazine and a graduate of the University
of Tampa. She competes in combined driving events with
her Arabian sport horses and keeps Merle, a fun-loving
donkey as a pet. |
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