*, Feel free to share on Pinterest, as well by hovering over it and clicking the Pinterest icon. A fluffy horse might be skinny and unhealthy underneath. If you are anything like me, few things cause me as much stress and uncertainty as trying to keep my horse happy and healthy year-round. Digesting hay has the greatest WARMING EFFECT for your horse. They prefer certain pastures and crops and leave species that are unpalatable. Small amounts of ertilizer can be applied through the seeder at planting. Can I get a “yay” for headbands, fuzzy socks, and pumpkin spice lattes? The hay should be cut early and be leafy, green, and free of mold, dust, and foreign matter, such as weeds and stubble. (#betterlatethannever). Answer: 2 x 2 = 4. It also forces you to take any blankets off, which can hide a skinny horse! The first thing you need to do is find out how much your horse weighs using either a weigh tape or weigh bridge. OK, great. It’s done by feeling 6 key areas along the body. We’ve calculated costs based on an average of 20 pounds of forage daily. It’s a frustrating fact, but they all do it. #knowledgeishorsepower. ONLY a Body Condition Score, which requires you to touch the horse, can give you this insight. You’re welcome to use this infographic on your own website *as long as you link back to horserookie.com. Your primary goal should be to provide the “correct” amount of energy/calories your specific horse requires via hay. Without adequate pasture acreage, horse owners will need to limit turnout time to prevent overgrazing and supplement with hay to help meet equine nutritional requirements. This reduces waste because the horse has to pull bites out of the small holes, which keeps more hay in the bag and leaves less waste on the ground. Timothy, smooth broomegrass, or perennial ryegrass, Timothy, smooth broomegrass, or Kentucky bluegrass. As a general rule, a 500 kg horse will eat less than a 500 kg cow but a horse wastes more pasture. Clean, fresh water and salt should be available at all times. Just like us, bodyweight doesn’t always give a clear picture of the overall condition we are in. In mares, toxins associated with this fungus can lower reproductive rates and cause abortion, agalactia (lack of milk), and prolonged gestation. According to Carrie Hammer from North Dakota State University, Horses waste hay. If you do not have a good stand of desirable species, you may want to renovate the pasture by destroying the existing plants and introducing productive mixtures. Horse Hay FAQs: List of Types of Hay, What Hay is Best, etc. The body can go into shock and begin to quickly use stored fat and muscle to make energy for heat. Have you ever heard this saying? About 2% of your horse body weight is how much hay or pasture your horse needs a day, and so if your horse is 1,000 lbs, about 20 pounds of hay per day. Make sure you request an equine DE when having horse hay analyzed as sometimes the default DE calculation is for cattle. Get notified when we have news, courses, or events of interest to you. After many winters with horses, I’ve come to understand the negative impact of letting a horse go too long between meals. Always remember to take into consideration the quality of your hay. Hammer, Carrie. The hay should be leafy and free of molds and dust. Older stands of fescue often are infested with an endophyte, a fungus within the plant. Select the primary forage that you have available and that you routinely feed to your horse. Hay may not seem like a big deal, but it’s one of the biggest ways you can contribute to the health of your horse year-round, support overall wellness, and keep them at an optimal weight. Your hay analysis should show the DM content of your forage. To minimize feed costs, it is important to keep horses healthy and feed them a balanced ration that meets their nutritional needs. Cost of Owning a Horse: November 2020 Expense Report, Letter to My Rookie Self: Abriana Johnson, Horse care 101: Turnout blankets vs. stable blankets. Like any other preserved forage, the quality of orchardgrass hay depends on multiple factors, primary of which are cultivation and harvesting techniques. Hammer also explains, “A 10- to 15-mph wind will require horses to consume an additional 4 to 8 pounds of hay to meet their increased energy requirements.”. (Using example calculations at end of this page). See All Pest, Disease and Weed Identification, See All Beer, Hard Cider, and Distilled Spirits, See All Community Planning and Engagement. Good pasture alone is sufficient to meet all of the nutritional requirements for many classes of horses. 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