Safe hay for minis

[Toolman640]

Hello I'm new here and we just got a 2 yr old mini and I have heard that minis shouldn't eat hay with Fescue in it ,is this true. He has been on a strictly alfalfa diet but we want to switch him to regular hay as our POA mare is is this advisable?

 

[chandab]

Usually fescue is just an issue for pregnant mares, I'm pretty sure it is safe for non-breeding horses. It's actually an endophyte (fungus) on the fescue that is a problem for horses).

I take it your POA mare has been on fescue, the new mini should be able to eat the same hay as the POA mare without issue. You'll probably want to slowly switch him from alfalfa to grass hay, so his gut gets used to it without an upset.

 

[AngC]

...minis shouldn't eat hay with Fescue in it ,is this true. He has been on a strictly alfalfa diet but we want to switch

I don't know about fescue hay, we have lots of fescue pasture, and our mare was eating fescue grass while she was pregnant. Since then I've learned that just because pasture seed has a "horse" label slapped on it, perhaps it's not so good for horses. So I've been ordering seed from a company that touts endophyte-free.

Edited-to-Add: I don't know how you would be able to ensure that a hay supplier isn't giving you endohpyte-laden hay???