soaking hay

[yellerroseintx]

I have never heard of this before other than spraying /keeping dust down....I spoke to a Purina equine specialist today about my chubby buddy and he said to soak his hay to reduce the sugar...??? Maybe I just live in a box.....

 

[targetsmom]

I lived in the same box until Monday of this week, so don't feel bad. Go to/ join the Equine Cushings Yahoo group and read the "start here" files (under files) about the emergency diet. http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/EquineCushings/

I started soaking one of our minis hay on Monday and boy am I glad it isn't the big horses hay I have to soak! Princess isn't wild about the diet change, but she is eating it. She was already on a fairly low sugar/low carb feed with rinsed beet pulp and Remission (magnesium and chromium supplement to help prevent founder) , so it may have been less of a change for her. Be sure to read the other basic files too, because you need to pay attention to vitamins and minerals.

Good luck with him. I hope others who have dealt with these issues longer than I have will add their comments.

 

[ThreeCFarm]

The Purina guy is right, soaking the hay reduces the sugar.

 

[Marty]

I've done it in the past if I had a reason.

But moreso not just to reduce the sugars but back in Florida really to help keep the horses hydrated any way we could. Heat stroke is so common there.

 

[Becky]

You might want to look into a couple of new Purina products. WellSolve L/S and WellSolve W/C. Here's the website http://www.wellsolveequine.com/. I recently started an obese mare of mine on the W/C formula. I will be anxious to see if this feed really does help!

From the Purina site - Soaking hay can reduce the sugar and fructan content by 20 - 30%. This may be necessary for horses that are extremely sensitive to carbohydrates in the diet. We recommend that you submerge the hay for 30 minutes in hot water, or 60 minutes in cold water, then drain and feed.

 

[Nathan Luszcz]

Soaking also removes vitamins and minerals, so make sure you keep things in balance!