Posted on 08/07/2007 7:33:14 AM PDT by HairOfTheDog
I was hoping you would respond to that post....I have always wondered if I was understanding that properly:)
Becky
I like the weight all ours are at... I just wondered if they were getting enough vitamins and minerals. ;~\
Boy, that looks like yummy hay! My common bermuda is much browner looking than that. But they eat it, and it’s VERY low carb, so that’s all that matters I guess. But I’m sure they’d tell you different if you did a blind taste test. I guess it’d be like the difference between giving me a rice cake and a yeast roll with butter. ;o)
Our local hay often looks like what you describe... and they don’t eat half of it... they pick around in it, and pee poop on the rest. I just felt like I had to feed a lot of it for them to find enough they liked, and there was a lot of waste.
What exactly is the allergy shot you get for Suzy? We’re taking Homer in today.
Just as more discussion on the nutrition topic, your mentioning weight reminded me of something I’ve learned more from studying nutrition for humans, but it applies to horses also.
Weight, is not a good barometer of health, skinny, fat, or just right.
Even if a human/horse looks to be fine weight wise, you need to determine is the weight fat, or muscle. And I’ve also learned, you don’t need forced exercise to have good muscle.
Muscle cannot be built with starches and sugars, even if there is forced exercise. You’ll just build fat with those. Muscle can be built with proper nutrition even if there is no exercise. Protein builds muscle, but it doesn’t really take a lot to do that, if everything is well balanced.
Becky
I have no idea, I just ask for the allergy shot.
Becky
Yeah, it’s hard to know sometimes.
Here, the most common grass in Local hay is Canary grass. I know why they use it, it grows a lot of bulk. But I have it in the pasture and they won’t eat it.
We get a lot of sage grass around here when people don’t lime their fields like they should. Nothing will eat that either. Because of the drought and the hay shortage, we had people baleing fields that hadn’t been baled in years and they were nothing but weeds and sage, but once it was baled up it was hard to tell what was in it. I’m sure a lot of people ended up with a lot of hay that even a cow wouldn’t eat, much less a horse.
Yes, and unless you really know what your horse needs, you are just wasting money.
Becky and Hair, I only have about 3 acres fenced for pasture. It is more for the "grazing needs", exercise and fresh air. But, we try and feed a good quality hay. You might not always know the nutritional value. Hay that is somewhat green, smells good and is free from a weeds, dust,mold and insects. Time of cutting is very important also. Why waste your time and money buying a cheaper quality of hay? Spend a little more and get good hay.
Situations vary from across the Country. The drought in many areas have made it difficult to find good hay. This year, the kids baled hay off of the ex's field. It's crap! Lots of weeds and wide stem grasses, the horses will not eat. The stalls are hard to keep clean, with all the wasted hay. To me, it was a waste.
Becky, I am not disagreeing with how you keep your horses, they look great! I just disagree with your reasoning about feeding hay. Even though you feed a complete feed, you did put out round bales to occupy them, not for any nutritional value. I am just a firm believer in feeding good hay.
Hair, your situation is difficult, because of lack of storage.
Becky, I got my newspaper 2 days ago. Thank you so much for sending it! I had fun reading the entire paper, not just the saddle club story.
We got orchard grass shipped here from up north during the drought. It was lovely hay. The feed store still stocks it but it’s very expensive in comparison to our local coastal bermuda. The 12 rolls I just bought was really nice coastal.
During the drought here I had bought some rolls that were total crap, the horses wouldn’t eat it. This year, since we’ve had rain, the area where the crap round bales were sitting is growing little tomatoes. They must have baled their garden.
I think horses need access to good, nutritious hay or pasture 24 hours a day, feed not needed unless the horse is in some kind of athletic activity or is unable to eat grass or hay. George has no grinding teeth left and is totally unable to eat grass or hay. I feed him tons of equine senior and he still looks terrible. He acts like he feels fine but his days are numbered. He looks bad enough that I’m afraid some moron will call the humane society on me.
LOL! I've seen those. It's some kind of weed that fruits like a little marble-sized tomato but the stems are full of thorns. They're really a pain to get rid of too. I've got some other stuff coming up that looks like little green Japanese lanterns. Don't know WHAT that is.
Well, I’ve stated my reasons for feeding as I do...IMO, my horses look fit, they act fit. Rocky’s been fed this way for 12 years...he’s 19 now. I’ve had no problems in all those years.
I bought the round bales this year because I want to keep the horses off what little pasture I have to give it a chance to recover from the drought we had last year.
Last year with nothing out there they started eating the bark on the trees. I do not believe it was a nutritional issue as much as a boredom issue, because they are grazing animals. When I lock them up with nothing to do, they eat their own poop and I’ve been told that can lead to problems.
I do believe the grazing issue has to be addressed as well as nutrition for a healthy happy horse. In the past I had enough pasture to do that, the drought last year ruined that, I’m trying to recover from that, or I wouldn’t have bought the hay. With the high quality feed I provide for them there is no reason to pay $60-80 for hay, when $30 hay serves the purpose I need.
If my horses had problems I would change, but I’m not going to worry or change things that do not have a problem.
Becky
I've had those coming up for the last few years. I don't know what they are either. I do know that everyone of the laterns have a seed in them...so I've been trying to keep them mowed down before they go to seed.
Becky
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