07/09/2025
🌾 What Type of Hay Are You Feeding? 🐴💡
Choosing the right hay is a key part of building a balanced feeding program. While hay quality depends on several factors, the type of forage provides important clues about its nutrient content.
Hay falls into one of three categories, each with general nutrient trends:
🔹 Legumes (e.g. alfalfa, clover, rhizoma peanut):
Higher in protein, energy, and calcium making them better suited for performance horses, broodmares, and growing horses.
🔹 Cool-Season Grasses (e.g. timothy, orchard, fescue):
Typically the most palatable grass hay with moderate protein and digestible fiber. Great base forage for most horses and often mixed with legumes.
🔹 Warm-Season Grasses (e.g. bermudagrass, teff, bahia):
Generally higher in fiber and lower in NSC compared to cool-season grasses. These hays may be suitable for easy keepers or horses with metabolic concerns.
📌 Keep in mind: These are general trends. The actual quality of hay depends on more than just species, factors like maturity at harvest, growing conditions, region, storage, and handling all influence nutrient content.
🧪 The only way to accurately assess hay quality is by testing it. A forage analysis tells you the true levels of protein, fiber, energy, and minerals in your hay, so you can feed with confidence.
📖 Learn more about hay types and forage quality here:
🇺🇸 https://madbarn.com/forage-identification-for-horses/
🇨🇦 https://madbarn.ca/forage-identification-for-horses/
