Hey, Hey, Hay!

This post definitely counts as part of the Barn Life in California series.  I thought I'd share a little bit about hay.  I should start off by saying that I am not an expert on hay types and have never done any research on hay, but I am a typical horse owner in California which makes me qualified to report on what the typical owner might do.  And by typical, I mean the kind of owner who wants their hay to be cheap and easy to get.  There was a time when I fed oat hay, but it was a pain to find as it is only cut once or twice a year around here, and storing a full year's supply of hay was difficult.  So which hay is relatively cheap and easy to get in California? That would be alfalfa.

What is alfalfa hay anyway?  "Alfalfa is a flowering plant in the pea family Fabaceae cultivated as an important forage crop in the US, Canada, and many other countries. It is known as lucerne in the UK, France, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand, and known as lucerne grass in south Asia. It superficially resembles clover, with clusters of small purple flowers."  Thank you, Wikipedia.

Random Internet Photo

Here in California, alfalfa can be harvested many times a year.  We buy our bales in long, rectangular cubes.  Each bale weighs about 100 pounds and will feed one horse for approximately five days.  Currently, alfalfa is selling for around $20 per bale. Other hay types (oat, timothy, orchard grass, etc.) are selling for as low as $17.00 per bale.

As I was 'researching' this blog post, I stumbled on an interesting website that had a Myths page that seems pretty sensible. Check it out here.  The first myth the author addresses is this: 

"You should never give a horse straight alfalfa." Never say never. In California and the southwest United States, horses are routinely fed straight alfalfa as the only forage. In that region, alfalfa is cheap, plentiful, and the horses do quite well. 

While some horses may not need alfalfa, others would truly benefit from receiving alfalfa. The difference lies in what nutrients alfalfa provides, and what the horse actually needs. Alfalfa contains more energy, protein and calcium than most grass hays, such as timothy, brome grass, orchard grass, etc. This nutrient profile makes it most suitable for young, growing horses and lactating mares, because they have high protein and mineral requirements. By comparison, alfalfa exceeds the protein requirements of idle horses and performance horses. That does not mean these horses cannot receive straight alfalfa. It just means alfalfa provides more protein than these classes of horses need. Alfalfa also tastes good, so it's useful when you've got a finicky eater or a horse with a poor appetite.

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Since alfalfa provides more protein than our horses need, what should we do about it?  Many owners cut the alfalfa by feeding alfalfa/oat cubes, but by and large, most owners in California feed alfalfa straight with no side effects.  Can there be side effects?  Yes.  Are they that common?  Well, no.  Some horses develop enteroliths (large stones), others urinate more frequently as their bodies try to process the excess protein and calcium.  See the Myths page above to find out the whys for the more frequent urination. 

The truth is, most of California's horses eat straight alfalfa with no problems.  Mine included.  Here's how we do it.  RM, barn owner, doesn't have a hay barn ... yet.  With our mild climate, we only have to worry about infrequent rain storms.  Tarp-covered hay is a common sight in California, and serves most people well.  Our hay rests on pallets and sits in two parts: the smaller stack is what we feed from while the larger stack is more tightly covered.  Click photos for larger view.

The "feed from" stack.

The larger stack.

RM has a scale, similar to what a grocer might have, that we use to check the weight of our flakes.  I've mentioned this before, but each horse gets approximately twenty pounds of alfalfa daily.  We feed twice each day.  Bailey and Bounder are Hoovers and rarely leave a leaf behind.  Speedy G and Sydney are much slower eaters and are often quite picky. They prefer to search out the tastier leaves and frequently leave the stems behind.  Naughty boys! These pictures were taken on Monday morning at about 11:00 a.m. - several hours after feeding.  Click photos for larger view.

Scale for weighing hay and other feed.

Speedy G's feeder

Sydney's breakfast pile

Bounder gets alfalfa/oat cubes at night instead of straight alfalfa, but he also gets alfalfa pellets at night. Bounder also gets morning supplements and several pounds of beet pulp.  In addition to his hay, Bailey gets oats with some goodies thrown in for good health.  Speedy G and Sydney get several pounds of beet pulp and rice bran to round out their daily hay ration.  Does everyone feed like we do?  Of course not, but I bet you'd find that many, many Californians follow a very similar feeding routine.  

In all honesty, we could probably cut back a bit on the hay since our boys get other stuff to eat, but we all know that readily available forage is good for the brain, gut, and keeps our ponies warm during our cold nights and mornings.