Quality roughage is the most important part of equine nutrition – The horse’s unique digestive system functions at its best with at least 1.5% of total bodyweight fed daily & in some cases 2.5%+ is necessary.
Hay not only satisfies the horse’s appetite but can meet most of a horse’s basic nutritional needs.
MA in Malaysia 🇲🇾 imports its Timothy & Lucerne (Alfalfa) from North America.
How much forage or hay does your horse need? 🌿🌾
The average adult horse needs a MINIMUM of 1.5-2% of their body weight in forage or hay every day. That might include grasses, hay, hay cubes etc.
So that’s between 7.5kg-10kg every day for a 500kg horse and 3.75kg-5kg for a 250kg pony!
The type of forage/grass or hay will depend on your horse or pony and their dietary needs. Horses and ponies with laminitis or metabolic conditions may not be able to graze pastures consistently so rely on quality low sugar and starch meadow hay.
The performance or breeding status of a horse will also influence what type of pasture, forage or hay they should be fed. If they have a higher nutrient requirement, they may need hay and pasture types that include legumes like lucerne or clovers with higher protein and calcium contents.
If you are lucky to have abundant pastures, it’s still a good idea to familiarise yourself with the grass species available and their quality. C4 grasses like kikuyu can contain oxalates which can mean horses need additional mineral supplementation. Pastures will also change in nutritional value depending on the time of year (winter tends to see lower quality) and more mature grasses will be higher in fibre and lignin and lower in nutritional value.
– From Thompson & Redwood, Western Australia 🇦🇺
Any Hay or Haylage or Feed for that matter that you buy and feed your horses please be vigilant when opening & using PLEASE ! Anything that doesn’t smell or look right then put aside, take a photo, forward to us and we will pick it up and replace it on the condition that it is stored correctly and rotated on a first in first used basis. -If you open a loaf of bread and it is mouldy surely one would not use it to make a sandwich? -If you open the milk carton and it smells off surely one does not add it to your cup of coffee? -If the goods you buy at the supermarket are thrown on a floor; are able to get wet; bags, containers and lids not fastened correctly & have access to rats, mice, insects, cats, monkeys and discarded Hay fines are walked on in wet shoes, nested in by the above animals as sleeping headquarters & bags/tubs that old that mould is growing on them are retained inside the storage areas for months (?) then the return policy would of course be null & void. One should be aware, I believe, of one’s kitchen cleanliness & pantry area, Surely ?
For recognition of the work presented by ENA for equine 🐴 learning purposes we would like to thank all the authors, photographers, graphic designers, cameramen, videographers,
IT technical wizards, presenters, hosts, industry experts, veterinary doctors, nutritionists, surgeons, universities, research facilities ALL devoted & dedicated to the HORSE from across the globe 🌎