Before moving, my horse was always boarded. Now he’s at my place, and along with that, I have to look for a quality hay source.
I found a nice Timothy/orchard/alfalfa mix earlier in the fall, but the farmer is now out of that hay, and I did not buy enough to store through winter, unfortunately. I have tried a few different sources since then and have either found the hay too weedy, stemmy, or not quite the mix I was hoping for. After a lot of searching, I finally found a nice Timothy/orchard mix, nice and soft, clean with no weeds etc. The farmer told me it contained some clover, but not much, less than 20%. I purchased 70 bales, not knowing anything about clover and horses. My horse has been on the hay now for a few weeks, loving it. Then I heard from someone that clover can contain a toxin that would be poisonous to horses. I went home, researched the issue, and sure enough, it can. A certain type of clover can even cause “big liver disease” or liver failure that is irreversible……
Now what do I do? Do I continue to feed the hay and hope the small amount of clover in the hay doesn’t affect my gelding? Do I try to resell, or even just scrap the hay? I wish I had known this before I bought it…… feels like a rookie mistake, any insight into clover and horses would be appreciated. Thank you