Curious about which hay is best for horses?
The answer is: Mixed-species grass hay (also referred to as mixed-meadow hay)
What is mixed-species hay?
Mixed-species hay is multiple species of grass hay, ideally mixed together.
In a perfect world, a hay farmer would grow many species of grass hay in a field. Then your horse could have all those species of grass hay at the same time. Species of grass hay in the United States include: orchard, meadow, bermuda, brome, tall fescue, bluegrass, teff, timothy, and probably more.
Some hays do not grow well with other hays. And sometimes farmers do not want to mix hay species together. If you can only get singular-species hay, then get as many types as you can. Feed each type every day.
Do not feed one type for months, and then another type. Horses need mixed-species every day.
They also need hay available ad-lib, free choice ALL DAY LONG. They are designed to nibble about 20 hours a day. Their guts need this continuous steady stream of hay to operate correctly.
Why do we want multiple species of hay?
Your horse has a fantastic digestive system. Including a cecum which can extend to six feet! This cecum houses hundreds, even thousands, of microorganisms. The more organisms, the healthier the horse.
If you feed only one type of hay, you only get organisms that thrive on that type of hay.
When you feed many types of hay, you get exponentially more organisms. That means a healthier, better digesting, more energetic, calmer horse due to the horse receiving all the nutrients and energy that the microorganisms make.
If they organisms do not get hay continuously, they start to die off. This changes the pH, and potentially leads to colic and ulcers.
Why do we not want grain hays, or legume hays?
Grain hays include oat, rye, barley. Legume hays include clover and alfalfa.
There’s many reasons not to feed these type of hays. Some people say you can feed these types, if they’re harvested at the proper time. I disagree.
The reason is that these types of grain/legume hays demand microorganisms to digest them that conflict with the grass hay microorganisms. That is, each needs a different pH to survive….so this pH conflict is a disaster for the gut. It causes microorganism death, and possibly colic.
A common question is, “But I thought alfalfa with high calcium is good for preventing ulcers?”
This thought is based on one subpar study which solely gave the hypothesis that extra calcium might be good for stomach ulcers. That is, a guess. This higher calcium in the hay is NOT released in the stomach. First, the hay must be digested for the calcium to be absorbed.
But meanwhile the alfalfa (which has too high protein: approx 18% when horses need 9% maximum, plus an incorrect calcium phosphorus ratio (ranges 6-15 to 1, when the ratio should be 1 to 1) is destroying the gut microorganisms, destabilizing the mineral balance, and hurting the kidneys from excess protein. Alfalfa definitely does not help the horse.
Interestingly — and perhaps no coincidence that this “study” is so popular — alfalfa is the most economically important crop to the horse industry.
I realize that in some regions, only alfalfa hay is available. And in other reasons, only rye grain hay is available.
Each individual needs to choose what is best for their horse. And you can only do your best with what you have available. Please don’t stress. Your horse knows you are doing your best. Just make mixed-species hay your next goal to acquire.
Mixed-species grass hay is the best option for horses. No rye, no alfalfa, no clover.
Ideas to finding mixed-species hay
- Call local feed stores
- Keep calling local feed stores, ask for hay farmers contact info.
- Contact hay farmers, put in your request (have your friends call too!)
- Post on social media, perhaps private farm owners have extra to sell
- Call local big barns, breeding stables, etc to see if they have contact info for hay
- Look for land to grow your own hay. Consider buying with a group of people.
- Find farmer to grow and cut the hay on your land.
- Horses should not be on grass pasture. They are designed to eat dry, fibrous, scrub grasses. That is, hay. So if you have any land, you can get rid of pasture grass areas by making a track system (Paddock Paradise) and grow hay instead.
I realize this can be a big change, even a monumental change. Take your time, don’t stress out, but get it done.
Your horse will thank you…and you will thank you for the decreased ulcers, decreased colic, decreased kidney damage, decreased mineral imbalance issues, and lots more. You’ll have a healthy, happy horse.
For more info on everything horses need, please see: HAPPY HORSE MINI COURSE
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