Picking the Right Hay for Your Horse

Hay will make up most of your horse’s diet so the type of hay that you choose to feed your horse is important. Different types of hay have different nutritional value. For most owners, the availability of quality hay and the cost of the local hay is more of a consideration than the type of hay that they feed their horse but when you’re choosing a hay to feed your horse you should really take the nutritional content of the hay into consideration as well as the cost and availability.

There are three common types of hay that are found all over the country and are usually fed to horses. Timothy, Alfalfa, and Grass or Orchard Grass mixtures are the types of hay that most people feed to their horses.

Alfalfa hay is higher in protein than the other types of hay. Adult horses don’t need a lot of protein so alfalfa hay is not the best choice of hay for an adult horse. Mares that are pregnant or have young foals should be fed alfalfa because of the higher protein and nutritional content. Alfalfa hay can be hard to find and expensive, so unless your horse needs a lot of protein you can usually select a cheaper, easier to find type of hay to feed your horse.

Timothy hay is the hay that is most often fed to horses. Timothy hay has a good blend of the nutrients that horses need and it’s easy to find because it’s grown just about everywhere in the country. Timothy hay is actually a blend of Timothy grass and other plants so if you have outdoor allergies you might find that you react badly to the pollen in Timothy hay. Many people that don’t suffer from allergies do find that they have allergy problems around Timothy hay.

Grass/Orchard Grass hay is a mix of several pasture grasses. Orchard Grass hay is often the least expensive type of grass because it requires the least amount of cultivation. Since it has a lower nutritional content, horses will need to eat more Orchard Grass hay than other types of hay to get the same nutrition. If your horses are kept in a pasture and the grass forage gets low, it’s a good idea to mix some Timothy hay and some Orchard Grass hay and feed both kinds to keep the horses interested and to give them the nutrition they need.

Just like people have different tastes in food some horses will have different tastes in hay. If your horse doesn’t like one type of hay or seems to lose weight or gain weight too quickly eating one type of hay, you might have to try another. A good place to find information about where to find hay locally is at the local agricultural feed store.