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| Remember Terri Garr's line, "Roll in ze hay?" |
Hay tip
When hay is young it is the most digestible. As hay matures, the plant prepares for to support the blossom head by strengthening the stem and produces lignin, an undigestible fibrous material. It does the horse no good and makes for stemmy hay. After showing how hay is analyzed in the lab, he offered an alternative method of assessing your horse's hay:
"Open a bale, spread it around. Then take off your clothes and roll in it naked."
Does it feel good or bad? If you're not sure, Dr. Kapper says, smiling:
"A second opinion is helpful."
Oh, and a blossom head of 1-2 inches is okay in a bale. Six to eight inches, not what you want to see...
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That's interesting. Was there any discussion about whether the older hay is better for fat ponies and horses prone to laminitis?
ReplyDeleteMy vet told me this winter that my hardkeeper would benefit from softer hay (we had very coarse hay at the time). I had never heard hay described that way before, but now I understand that it means younger and leafier. Must have been an interesting seminar.
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