{"id":33481,"date":"2018-11-07T14:00:11","date_gmt":"2018-11-07T19:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/yourhorsefarm.flywheelsites.com\/?p=33481"},"modified":"2018-11-07T10:34:48","modified_gmt":"2018-11-07T15:34:48","slug":"five-little-known-facts-about-horse-hay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/yourhorsefarm.com\/five-little-known-facts-about-horse-hay\/","title":{"rendered":"Five Little Known Facts About Horse Hay"},"content":{"rendered":"

But what some may not know is just how important it is. Often times, we pay more attention to bagged feeds than forage, but the truth is, hay is just as important, if not more so, than those concentrates.<\/span><\/p>\n

With that said, here are five little known facts about horse hay:<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

#1<\/b> When fed at a rate of 2% of your horse\u2019s body weight per day (which equals around 20 lbs\/day for the average 1,000 lb horse), good quality grass hay can meet an adult horse\u2019s basic caloric, fiber, major mineral, and protein needs. However, It\u2019s important to note that hay-based diets will still be lacking in certain essential nutrients, including some trace minerals, vitamins, antioxidants, and essential fatty acids. These nutrients must be supplemented.<\/span><\/p>\n

#2<\/b> Alfalfa is a popular forage for horses, but it should never be the primary hay source as it contains high amounts of protein, which can stress the kidneys, and calcium, which can lead to major mineral imbalances. Instead, alfalfa should make up no more than 20% of your horse\u2019s hay ration. Good quality grass hay should make up the rest.<\/span><\/p>\n

#3<\/b> Cool season grass hays such as orchardgrass, timothy, and fescue tend to be higher in sugar than warm season grass hays such as bermudagrass, bromegrass, and prairie grass.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

#4 <\/b>Speaking of sugar, some hay contains too much for horses with conditions like insulin resistance, equine metabolic syndrome, or Cushing\u2019s disease. The only way to know your hay\u2019s sugar (NSC) level is to have it tested, but soaking hay in water for at least one hour may reduce sugar levels enough to make it safe for metabolic horses. (Note: an NSC level of no more than 12% is recommended for these horses.)<\/span><\/p>\n

#5 <\/b>Hay keeps horses warm! It\u2019s true\u2014heat is produced by the act of digestion, and since forage takes longer to eat\/digest than concentrates, it will help keep a horse warmer over a longer period of time.\u00a0A good rule of thumb is this: for every 10\u00a0degrees F it is below freezing, increase your horse\u2019s\u00a0hay ration by 10%.\u00a0If a horse doesn\u2019t have enough hay to eat during cold weather, he will burn calories by shivering in an effort to stay warm.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

But what some may not know is just how important it is. Often times, we pay more attention to bagged feeds than forage, but the truth is, hay is just as important, if not more so, than those concentrates. With that said, here are five little known facts about horse hay: #1 When fed at…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":33171,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[60],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33481","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-farm"],"yoast_head":"\nFive Little Known Facts About Horse Hay - Your Horse Farm<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Your Horse Farm, Tips and Advice for Your Horse Farm\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/yourhorsefarm.com\/five-little-known-facts-about-horse-hay\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Five Little Known Facts About Horse Hay\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Your Horse Farm, Tips and Advice for Your Horse Farm\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/yourhorsefarm.com\/five-little-known-facts-about-horse-hay\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Your Horse Farm\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"http:\/\/facebook.com\/rammfence\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-11-07T19:00:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/yourhorsefarm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/generic_hay1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"960\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"640\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Casie Bazay\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@rammfence\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@rammfence\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Casie Bazay\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/yourhorsefarm.com\/five-little-known-facts-about-horse-hay\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/yourhorsefarm.com\/five-little-known-facts-about-horse-hay\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Casie Bazay\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/yourhorsefarm.com\/#\/schema\/person\/6623f2404835da49979a921fd6fd1780\"},\"headline\":\"Five Little Known Facts About Horse Hay\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-11-07T19:00:11+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/yourhorsefarm.com\/five-little-known-facts-about-horse-hay\/\"},\"wordCount\":379,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/yourhorsefarm.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/yourhorsefarm.com\/five-little-known-facts-about-horse-hay\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/yourhorsefarm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/generic_hay1.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Farm\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/yourhorsefarm.com\/five-little-known-facts-about-horse-hay\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/yourhorsefarm.com\/five-little-known-facts-about-horse-hay\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/yourhorsefarm.com\/five-little-known-facts-about-horse-hay\/\",\"name\":\"Five Little Known Facts About Horse Hay - 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