FEEDING ECONOMICALLY-BUT WELL
By Marjorie LacyMany areas are experiencing a shortage of feed this year. When hay prices double, as they have around here, it's bad news for horse owners. Horses don't just cut back on their intake because costs have gone up!
So what are the alternatives to breaking the bank buying hay or selling horses because you can't feed them?
Looking at different ways of feeding may help. After all, horses do well on feeds other than hay and oats. On our place we save a month or two of feeding hay by turning the horses onto the hayfields to graze the regrowth, since we take only one cutting of hay. The horses do very well on it (although it can be harmful to the hayfields, depending on the weather conditions). Once the fields have frozen and there is snow on the ground, we turn the mature horses out to paw for a living, a field at a time. Horses have the instinct to paw away the snow to get at the grass underneath, and Walkers in particular seem to enjoy pawing! If you have hayfields, you can save a considerable amount of feed by letting the horses harvest what's out there before the snow gets too deep.
Another alternative is to use stuff not normally considered to be "horse feed". For example, oat straw can be an acceptable roughage for mature horses when supplemented with grain or alfalfa pellets. Check around for alternative forages in your area. Having feed analyzed to find out its actual food value will help you plan how to best balance the rations you have or can get locally.
Alfalfa cubes are a way of feeding that wastes very little, and thus may be economical. Big round hay bales are a popular way of feeding groups of horses, but often tend to be wasteful as the animals trample and foul the perimeter of the hay. A lot of people try to counteract this by placing the bales in metal feeders. But these can be dangerous for horses. I know of three Walkers that have died through getting caught or tangled up in round bale feeders.
You can make the hay you have go farther by separating your horses and feeding what they actually require. When all are together in one place, the boss horses (generally the older, mature ones) will get the most, while young stock have to take second place. You also have to watch for really old horses being bullied away from the feed.
If you put the mature horses together and feed them only what they need (not as much as they want!) and put young growing horses in another paddock and feed to their needs, you'll probably save hay. Even better, you'll make more efficient use of what you do feed, with the older ones looking trim, not fat, by spring and the youngsters having grown well all winter.
We feed square bales here, and I find that, contrary to what is recommended, the horses waste little or none if the hay is spread out on the ground rather than fed from a box or manger. I spread it on clean areas (which can be hard to find by springtime!) twice a day and I always put out more flakes than there are horses so all have a chance to eat. Separate the piles of feed by a good distance too. I have seen one boss hoss do her very best to stand over two piles of hay at once. I guess she was trying to save one for coffee break time!
Another way to save feed is to make sure that you are feeding only horses, not parasites. Deworm the whole herd before they go on their winter quarters. Also having teeth checked, and floated to remove sharp points, will help the horses make better use of what they eat.
I wish you all sufficient feed and a mild winter!