Best Hay type

[Ann knight]

I am looking into getting my hay for this year and was looking for advice , as it has been a long time . Any advice would be appreciated .

Thanks.....Ann

 

[disneyhorse]

It depends on what you do with your minis!

I personally like to feed a good grass hay (orchard or timothy) with a little bit of alfalfa. But I do work my horses. If your horses are just sitting around, I'd probably not feed the alfalfa. It gives a caloric boost to the hay.

Andrea

 

[targetsmom]

This is one of those "it depends" kind of things - like what is available in your area, what do you do with the minis, etc. I try to get the best quality second cutting grass (timothy) hay that I can find. I like second cutting because it is usually finer and easier for the minis to eat. BUT, I have one mini that is insulin resistant, so for her I either 1) test hay and use the lowest NSC I can find or 2) feed some of the big horses first cutting hay or 3) use whatever has been working when I get new hay for the rest. Ours get their alfalfa in cubes, which I soak and feed as a bedtime snack, but can't give any to the IR mare. She gets her usual hay instead and doesn't complain.

 

[loveminis]

Where I live I like Orchard Grass from Eastern Washington the best. It is soft and doesn't have any stems or weeds in it. It's hard to find GOOD local grass hay. Alfalfa is too stemmy, and I am alergic to Timothy.

 

[Ann knight]

Thanks for the advice ! I appreciate everyone's time . I think I have found a good supply ( hopefully the weather will co-operate

) and the bonus is it has no pesticides used . I do use timothy/alfalfa cubes , along with BOSS and oats . So hopefully they are getting lots of good nutrition along with exercise and sunshine

Ann