18/10/2024
Excellent post by Karly at Stable-Ised Equine. Know your hay 🧐 And don't be afraid to ask your supplier questions if needed!
🌾 𝙉𝙤 𝙎𝙪𝙘𝙝 𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝘼𝙨 𝙈𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙤𝙬, 𝙋𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚, 𝙤𝙧 𝙉𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙂𝙧𝙖𝙨𝙨 𝙃𝙖𝙮
🐴 Sure, we have all heard the terms meadow hay, pasture hay, and native grass hay, but outside of being very broad descriptors, these terms tell us absolutely nothing about the hay we are feeding our horses. "Meadow" hay is not a species!
❓ I cannot pinpoint why it has become a trend to label hay in this manner. Is it to be deceptive about what species are actually present, is it to make the hay sound lower in sugar and starch than it actually is, is it because people genuinely don't know what species they are growing, harvesting, and selling, or is it just trend setting? I don't know.
📊 While forage testing is the only surefire way to get a grasp on what nutritive value the hay in question offers, being informed of the species that make up the hay can tell us a lot about a) what we should be testing for, b) whether it is a likely risk for metabolic or overweight horses, c) if it is likely to be contributing to any health or behavioural concerns, or d) if further supplementation is required to address factors such as oxalates.
🌱 An example of being species-aware would be rhodes grass and ryegrass hay both being sold as "pasture" hay. I know straight off the bat that the rhodes grass is likely to not provide excessive sugar and starch levels in comparison to ryegrass species which can vary from low to very high, not to mention the endophyte risk in some ryegrass strains that can be detrimental to horses. Not all ryegrass is 'bad,' however I do feel that a lot of the time it is sold as "native grass" hay to avoid questions and potential loss of sales.
🌿 Another example of being species-aware is pangola hay sold as "native grass" hay in coastal and tropical regions where yes, technically the pangola is native and grows well, but have the customers been made aware that pangola is a high oxalate species that would warrant careful balancing of calcium, phosphorous, and magnesium to prevent Nutritional Secondary Hyperparathyroidism or Big Head Disease?
🐎 The sad reality is, is that when asked for clarification on species, a majority of my Nutrition Consultation clients who are feeding meadow, pasture, or native grass hay have no idea what they are feeding and need to resort back to the grower, supplier, or produce store who sold them the hay. What is even sadder, is the amount of resistance or refusal many of these clients receive from their hay supplier when they ask questions. I completely understand there are many regions who cannot afford to be selective when it comes to hay for their horses, however knowing what species are being grown, harvested, and sold should be information absolutely everybody is entitled to know.
✅ Meadow, pasture, or native grass is not a species and could be anything from ryegrass, to fescue, to cocksfoot, to pangola, to rhodes, to clover, to weeds, and everything in between. You are entitled to know for the health of your horse.
