Is it actually needed where you are?
4 Likes
The vaccine for botulism isnât going to be any use for round bale (or ANY size bale actually) issues (carcasses) because itâs only useful against type B - an issue in soils in certain areas. Youâd probably know if it were an issue in your area.
12 Likes
So why are your horses not already muzzled if spring grass is already coming up? The other horses on the property are not your concern presuming they are not owned by YOU. If they are a concern because the BO and their owners are not savvy enough to know that overweight is unhealthy, it should be the sort of headshaking concern of âWhat the heck am I doing here. I should move my horses to somewhere with more knowledgeable people.â
9 Likes
Why is it that every time someone asks (effectively) AITA, and the answer is Yeah, you are - they just double down?
20 Likes
No it would not upset me. In fact my barn sometimes feeds round bales and sometimes itâs the huge giant square bales in a net. Iâve been there for 2 years and my horse looks great and is happy so I wouldnât make a fuss.
Now I do have a friend that just noticed her barn is now doing the last feeding (hay ) at 2:00 p.m⊠And they donât get another feeding until 6:00 a.m⊠Sheâs pissed. Understandably. Theyâre in a field but weâre out west so thereâs no grass at least not yet. And it will never be even close to lush or abundant.
4 Likes
Because I know my horses and like I said they can live like normal horses within reason. The small amount popping up isnât enough for me to be concerned about just yet. I have had one of the horses over 10 years and know when I need to bring out the muzzle.
I donât understand why botulism entered the chat. Itâs not exclusive to round bales?..and Sashaâs point about types.
10 Likes
Sorry but to me hay is 100x more important than grain. Change my 1lb of grain whatever. Put unlimited hay in front of my horses suddenly and we have a problem. I guess I will just have to be the ahole for the health of my horses.
But some how they went from perfectly fine weight to risking obesity and you did not notice because it was dark outside so you could not see the round bales.
Are these the same horses you were feeding your own extra hay to a little over a year ago?
It kind of feels like you are more upset that the barn owner changed the shape of the hay bales with out announcing it to the world, than how your horses are fed hay.
As you can see, most people would not have a problem with this.
But seriously, if this type of thing really bothers you, there is no issue with having a talk with the barn owner about it. Do NOT act like you are acting here. Have a calm and polite discussion about how your are silly and like to be overly careful about silly things so moving forward you understand that there is no issue with round bales but can they let you know so you know to pull out your grazing muzzles.
Nothing wrong was done here. You just need to take a deep breath and smile at all the right and pull out your grazing muzzles.
You are not being anything for the health of your horses. If you were that worried about the health of your horses you would simply be having an adult, polite, conversation with the barn owner and you would not being all dramatic about daylight savings time and the rolling of round bales.
How do you even know that they rolled the bales out there if you did not know the bales were out there because it is too dark?
19 Likes
Because square bales are usually flaked out and you can see sections should be pitched. And yes my area is one that it is expected that you vaccinate if you are going to feed round bales.
2 Likes
If you donât care, then why did you ask?
Go be an ahole, you do you.
12 Likes
I dunno that it really matters if youâre livid or not or if if your anger is justified or not.
Itâs a boarding barn. Generally speaking you adapt to the barn program or you move your horses.
21 Likes
Here too itâs good practice and recommended by our local vets to vaccinate if youâre feeding out round bales.
I personally have a friend whose horse died of botulism from round bale hay. It was horrible and heart breaking. And they spent a fortune at the hospital trying to save him. But to each his own! I totally get it if some folks are not interested in vaccinating for it.
1 Like
I vaccinate for it, and no one here wants their horses to come down with botulism, I would think!
From what I understand the vaccine is only useful against a certain type. So botulism is still a possibility, but it is nice to at least eliminate and/or reduce the chances of the horse getting one of the types.
My point is that botulism isnât exclusive to round bales and that if itâs recommended in your area, then you should do it regardless of bale shape. One shouldnât also think that the vaccine is full protection against all botulism either (not saying that you think that).
8 Likes
Of course hay is more important than grain. However, your lack of concern about changing your 1lb of grain shows your level of knowledge of feed, metabolism, and digestion.
Another indicator that perhaps your knowledge could be beefed up is your lack of concern over the spring grass coming up.
Please do some reading and research, youâve got some holes in your understanding that need to be filled in.
Yeah, no, this makes almost no sense. The ONLY type of botulism toxin that can be vaccinated for is Type B. If youâre in an endemic area, itâs in the soil and you should be vaccinating for it regardless of what shape/size bales are being fed.
14 Likes
Yes, usually. I could still see someone pitching a bale or half a bale out in a field and not noticing though. If vaccination is recommended for your area, then I would vaccinate. Iâd also do so even if my horse were eating squares in such an area.
5 Likes
Never mind, I see that @CanteringCarrot has answered this. Unless it was specifically Type B that the horse died from, no botulism vaccine would have protected that horse 
5 Likes
Iâd be concerned about increased hay with a metabolic horse, but a grain change would be more alarming to me, so would the spring grass. My breed of choice (PREâs) can be prone to metabolic issues, so I know that it should be taken seriously.
8 Likes
The âsmall amountâ of spring grass IS something you should be worried about with an easy keeper and is something Iâd be more concerned about than the hay. The shorter the grass is and the harder its trying to grow, the higher the sugar content. For what its worth, there are also a lot of weeds that are surprisingly high in NSC. Unless your horses are on a true dry lot, they can be getting a lot more sugar than you think from things like that.
16 Likes
When did this start? Presumably enough time has passed for your horses to gain weight. Do you never go to the barn during the weekends in the winter? If your horse is on grass pasture with a decent amount of grass during the summer, I just canât imagine how a round bale, in place of some square flakes, is causing this kind of heartache. Maybe they should have conveyed the change. But they didnât. Approaching them like you are approaching this forum, might not be the best option. Unless you have unlimited boarding options in your area. I do not. Far from it. So you just kind of roll with things and pick your battles. This is not a battle Iâd go to war over. Not at all. Bless them for offering constant forage to your horses. I do think you should take some responsibility in checking out their pasture, etc even though you might not think itâs your responsibility. I think most owners want eyes on the pastures/turnouts generally speaking. I know I do and many at my barn do. I have a hard time believing you were never at your barn during daylight hours at all since those bales were put in the pasture. But please be kind to the barn owners as they clearly had good intentions.
9 Likes
