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Reflections of summer 2007

BY the end of July it was obvious to anyone involved with the making of or the feeding of forage that the winter feeding season for 2007/8 is shaping up to be a really difficult year!

Horses and ponies are forage feeders. They need to consume huge quantities of forage to keep the digestive system in good order, and also the head. Horses and ponies have a need to chew, they are designed to graze for most of their waking hours. If they are not allowed to chew on forage, the chances are that they will find something else to chew on even if its something that you would rather they didn't. The need to chew is connected to their digestion. A horse can only produce saliva when it is moving the jaw; we and dogs are able to produce saliva just by thinking about food. A horse is not able to do this. Saliva is necessary to start the digestion and to ensure that stomach acid is diluted and does not start to cause ulcers.

In an ideal world, you as the person responsible for the feeding of your equines would source the bulk of the diet from forage, just topping up the nutritional requirements of energy and protein when and where necessary. And for those horses and ponies performing an average workload, not expected to hunt three times a week or perform in showjumping classes day after day, then the feed value derived from good quality forage should be sufficient. However, in these days unless you are feeding some forage in the form of Lucerne or Alfalfa (same plant, different name) the chances are that the forage will not provide sufficient protein or energy for work.

So what is good quality forage? I often hear people say that their animal is not good enough or doesn't require good quality forage as it isn't working hard enough or is just an ordinary horse or pony. How sad, these animals are then fed "poor quality" forage complete with mould and dust, and empty of feed value. Is this right? Of course not! Good quality forage will be well made, sweet smelling and free from dust and mould. It will only have the nutrient levels allowed by the grasses and their stage of growth at time of harvest. Good quality hay or haylage can be rocket fuel or can be very suitable for laminitics. Do not confuse good quality with the level of nutrients.

All equines, whether horse, pony, racehorse or family pet deserve good quality forage, of the right level and balance of nutrients. To feed other than good clean hay leaves your horse or pony at risk of developing ROA (restricted obstructive airway) disease caused by an irritant or allergic reaction to the mould and dust found in poor quality hays.

Most of us have to purchase our forage in. Only those who are in a position to "make" their own hay or haylage find themselves having to cope with a poor crop or even a fantastic harvest.

If you made your own hay and it was a disaster, I suggest that you sell it for the best price you can get and then go and purchase good stuff for your horses and ponies to eat. I must say that any forage I am not entirely happy about gets fed outside to those living out all year. I do this because they are eating in a large air space, a field tends to be rather draughty and so much of the dust is blown away and they will not inhale it. Even so, I suspect that the forage that I am not happy with is better than a lot of people feed to horses and ponies living in! The money I spend on good forage is never wasted, then I know that I am feeding as well as nature intended. With good quality forage I am able to save on vets bills associated with coughs, I also feed less cereals (which is a very good thing) and I am able to work my horses and ponies to their potential.

This year we are likely to be short of good hay, so how are we all going to cope? I have invested in an electric fence, which is now across my largest field. The idea being to save some of that field along with my smaller field as winter grazing for my mares and their followers. I intend to strip graze for the first part of the winter, moving the fence back into the ungrazed grass a bit at a time. Once that is used then I will use my other field. When all my natural grazing is exhausted then I will feed hay or haylage to the group along with a small amount of hard feed.

Over the years I have "perfected" a method of feeding hard feed, mainly soaked sugarbeet, alfalfa chaff and a bit of compound feed to those out in the field. My herd is just like any other with leaders and followers, the bossy ones and the meek ones. I have tied to the inside of the fence posts a series of tug trugs but none tied to the corner posts. They are secured so that they do not wander across the field. There is one for each pony. Then I go along the fence line from outside the field, and tip feed into each tub. The bossy ponies arrive first and the meek ones wait their turn. It is quite interesting that after a day or two they will have sorted themselves out and it becomes quite peaceful. I have someone to help me for the first few days. The other thing I do is place "keep" blocks in the field so that all of the horses and ponies have free access to vitamins and minerals to help keep them healthy. It amazes me how the blocks are left alone until one pony wants a taste then the others will queue up for a turn. The ones I use are those poured into a plastic container. They seem to last longer and I believe that is because they cannot get their teeth around the edges and break off large lumps. It goes without saying that horses and ponies stabled for all or part of the day must only receive hay or haylage of the very best quality, dust free and free from all moulds. Because they have a restricted airspace they will inhale a huge number of mould spores and dust particles with each breath (this goes for dust generated in the bedding too) which sooner or later can result in respiratory disease. Horses and ponies should not cough, not even a little bit! If they cough consult your vet immediately and get it cleared up before the cough becomes a long term problem.

If you feel that there is any dust in your hay, soak it before use. Soaking hay is a good policy anyway as just about all hay has some dust associated with it.

How long to soak for is a matter for discussion. I would only recommend soaking for 20 minutes as after that time all the water soluble nutrients will leave the hay and be in the water you throw away. Never reuse the water you soak in. Bacteria feed on the water soluble sugars, breed and turn the water into sewage!

The last thing to say about winter forage is, do not be afraid to feed "branded" haylage to your laminitic. Branded haylage firms will indicate which of their varieties are suitable for laminitocs and if you are not sure telephone their help lines.

All the domestically produced forage has now been made. Hay made in the UK during 2007 will range from a small amount of excellent quality, made in early June, to the very poor nutritional quality hay that maybe quite clean and free from dust made in September when the sun returned to the sky! In between these times hay would have been made in less than ideal climatic conditions so is likely to be dust and of poor nutritional quality.

Haylage is not immune from the effects of the weather. Although not as much sum is required to make haylage, at least a day or two still is. To make good quality haylage the sum must shine on the grass to ensure that enough natural sugar is produced to allow a thorough and effective fermentation to take place and that the haylage will keep.

There will much haylage made which would have benefited from more sun and more time. This will be wet and much more like silage, or if made later in the year the grass will have died and lost much of its feed value including the all important sugar levels need for fermentation. Do not worry about haylage having too much sugar for your horse or pony. The sugar is used by the bacteria to ensure the level of fermentation which must take place for a safe and non toxic haylage to be produced.

Haylage must always smell sweet, be free from any mould patches and come from a sealed package. All bags must be perfect, no tears, nicks or poor seals. All wrapped bales must have the wrapping complete and undamaged. Never accept bales where a tear had been taped over. Once open, do not try to re seal, let the air get around the haylage and this will ensure that it will remain good for the longest period. Depending on the process used to make the haylage, once opened it should remain good for up to five days if allowed to breathe. Never feed any haylage once it has mould patches or is covered with fruit flies. Occasionally, white greasy yeast forms on haylage this is usually a naturally occurring yeast and as long as not extensive is perfectly harmless, however, never feed any forage that you are unsure of, hay or haylage.

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