TESTING YOUR HAY

TESTING YOUR HAY Why should you have your hay analyzed? What will it tell you? The idea of analyzing your horse’s hay is fairly new to many of us. Traditionally you would contact your “hay guy”, place an order, specify first or second crop, and then take delivery of whatever showed up in the barnyard. Of maybe your hay source is your local feed store and you take whatever is available. Perhaps you produce your own hay. In any of these cases, do you really know the calorie, protein, and nutrient level in your hay? Does it matter? Forage should be the major part of your horse’s diet. It’s an important source of fiber, nutrients, and calories, so it’s a good idea to know what is actually in the hay that your horse is eating. The purpose of grain in your horse’s diet is to provide additional calories that he can’t get from his hay or pasture. Perhaps he is a performance or lesson horse who expends a lot of calories in his daily routine, or he has no access to pasture. He may not be able to get all the calories that he needs from hay. Then there are horses that can’t effectively chew their hay, perhaps because of age, but that is a topic for another time. Maybe you are thinking that it doesn’t matter because you’ve already bought your hay and you are not about to throw it out and go in search of more. Analyzing your hay isn’t about determining how good or bad it is. It’s about determining what you have and then making the most of your investment. Let’s look at some examples. For now, we’ll leave grain out of the diet. You probably know that on average a horse needs about two percent of his body weight in hay to maintain his weight if he isn’t doing any hard work. This is a common number that we use when determining how much hay to stock for the winter. Let’s take a closer look. If your horse weighs a 1000 pounds, that works out to 20 pounds of hay per day, just to maintain his weight. Perhaps your horse is an easy keeper though and gets fat when he looks at a round bale. Perhaps he has a higher metabolism or has trouble holding his weight when the temperatures dip. This two percent rule is a good guide, but in reality, we should consider a range of 1.5% to 2.5% when we talk about hay needs. What does that mean in terms of calories? You may know that the average 1000-pound horse needs an estimated 16,000 Calories per day if he isn’t doing any work. If he’s getting 20 pounds of hay and nothing else, how many calories is he really getting? (A note about Calories vs calories: most analyses will use the term kcals, or kilocalories. This is equal to one Calorie with a capital C. We’ll use this term when talking about specific numbers. The more common term of calorie with a small c is used in this article when no specific numbers are attached.) This is where a hay analysis can be very helpful. Suppose your results show that your hay has on average 800 kcal per pound. Great- that’s easy math- 20 pounds of hay should fill the caloric needs of an idle horse. But what if your hay tests at 700 kcal per pound? Now he needs almost three pounds more per day. Not a big deal, but if you aren’t aware of that you may find your horse is skinnier than expected when he sheds his winter coat. That’s because his hay is providing only 14,000 kcal a day. If your hay tests at 950 kcal per pound and you are feeding 20 pounds, your horse may only need 17 pounds and may be surprisingly plump come springtime. He put those extra 3000 kcals per day to good use! Now let’s add in exercise, or lack of exercise, and you can see how the hay equation starts to change. If your horse is getting 20 pounds of hay that is 700 kcal per pound, he is getting 14,000 kcal per day just from his hay. If he is being ridden or worked on a regular schedule, he needs more than the 16,000 kcals we talked about earlier. He is going to need more groceries. What if your horse is a bit thin going into winter and you are trying to put weight on him? If your hay is lower in calories, he’ll need help. He may need additional grain or a high calorie supplement or access to more hay. What if he is an easy keeper? Let’s say your hay is a very respectable 950 kcal per pound, and he’s getting 20 pounds per day. This works out to 19,000 kcal per day just from hay. If he isn’t doing any work or living outside in the elements 24/7, he’s probably going to gain weight. It’s important to note here that hay typically may not supply all your horse’s protein, vitamin, and mineral needs. This is why feed companies offer ration balancers. They provide additional nutrients without too many extra calories. Balancers differ depending on the manufacturer but on average offer 1000 kcal per pound. Hay analysis provides more information than just calories and nutrients. Another measurement is the amount of carbohydrates. If you have a pony that is prone to laminitis, or horses dealing with insulin resistance, or performance horses with higher energy needs, this is important to know. You can then make better decisions about the grain that you are feeding, or you may become aware that you must soak your hay for certain horses. This isn’t something that you can tell just by looking at the hay. Digestibility of the hay is another important consideration. Highly digestible hay means that more of the nutrients are available for use by the horse, while a lesser