Summary: By Charlie Poling of Mars Horsecare US As a source of nutrition for livestock, hay offers numerous advantages. It can be made from many different crops and when protected from the weather it can be stored and preserved with little nutrient loss; package sizes and shapes can vary greatly, and harvesting, storage, and feeding can vary from being baled by hand or completely mechanized. When supplemented, hay can often meet the nutrient needs of many classes of livestock. But how should you select the best forage for your horses? Depending on your horsersquo;s job, his requirements for forage will be different. For instance, how do you decide whether to feed a grass or a legume? Lets weigh the benefits of both. Grasses commonly fed to horses include timothy, orchardgrass, bromegrass, tall fescue, and Kentucky bluegrass. In general, grass hays are lower in protein compared to legume hays. They also can be low in calcium and phosphorus. Grass hays are usually easier to harvest than legume hays without them becoming dusty, and they are nutritionally sound for most mature horses. Legumes that are commonly used for horses are alfalfa, red clover, ladino clover, and birdsfoot treefoil. Legume hays on the other hand are generally higher in protein compared to the grass hays. They are also higher in minerals, but have an incorrect ratio of calcium to phosphorus. As a result of the high protein, they are very desirable in the ration of growing animals, but the calcium-phosphorus ratio must be balanced to prevent bone abnormalities. There are a couple of things to keep in mind when selecting types of hay and their quality. Lets start with simple visuals to score your hay. Does it look soft? Does it smell fresh? Is it leafy? Is it green or brownish? All of these clues are going to help you find the best hay possible for your animals. Hay should be sampled at the time of purchase for a better indication of the quantity of dry matter as well as the quality oif the hay in general. By considering the stage of maturity of the crop when it was harvested, you will be able to indicate quality. If the hay has large coarse stems and seed heads along with blooms present than you know that the plant was not cut at the right stage. This is going to mean fewer nutrients available to your animal and may not be as palatable. A lot of leaves and few to no seed heads will be the ticket. The leaves contain more digestible energy and protein than a bale full of stems would provide. The leafiness is going to decrease as the plant matures, leaving a visual for you to buy by. Texture is going to be the next biggest thing, and finding the right size stem could be an indication of how palatable the hay is going to be for your horses. Look for a smaller more flexible stem to please your horses diet. Check the hay out with all your senses, think touch, sight, and smell. Look for insects, weeds, trash, and mixtures of grass/ legume so you know exactly what your horse is ingesting. Next get your nose up to the bale and smell, if it is musty or has a moldy odor just walk away, no matter what the price. This means that the hay was not cured or stored in the right conditions and there is mold present. The smell of new mown hay is the standard by which hay odor is going to be judged. Mildew, and mustiness usually are the result from weather damage or insufficient drying before baling - indicating a lower quality of hay. And remember -- it may be more than just you turning up your nose at these bales; your animals will do the same and may not even eat it. A bright colored hay generally indicates that the vitamin and protein levels are going to be higher than a dark brown color. That dark brown color may indicate that the sun has caused heat damage and may not be able to provide vital nutrients. Color is not necessarily the best quality indicator when choosing hay but is one of the many tests that your hay needs to pass before purchasing. Now lets...
