Hay is getting pricey here so if you’re coming to Aiken to play with your horses bring as much hay as you can.
Last few times I’ve gone to get a load it’s been mostly spoken for.
Don’t want to panic people, it is available but a small bale of Orchard/Alf is running $11.60 + tax, a lot more than last year and coastal is horrible, if you can find it.
If you bring extra, no problem selling it here!
Ditto!
We’re making two trips when we come in a week+ just so we can bring a couple weeks worth of hay. It’s pricey up here, but the $10+ a bale the boss saw while he was down in November was not at all appealing. I’m sure we’ll end up buying some, but our clients will be happy if we don’t have to buy 8 weeks worth of it at those prices!
Yipes. I have the most gorrrrrrgeous home grown 2nd crop in my barn here in Maine. I’m full to the rafters but how am I going to get 2 months’ worth of the stuff to Aiken in my 2 horse GN??!!
How are you set for shavings? If I can leave them behind I can fit more hay! Thanks for the warning.
Pardon the interruption
RBP, you’re going to Aiken for 2 months. . .you lucky dog!! (Say hi to Susie for me)
Back to the thread.
This is true to the max all over the south - I am happily paying $10.00/bale for nice timothy and hope to be able to keep getting it through March (its already parceled out or I’d help y’all get some hay). RBP, get your hay sources dedicated BEFORE you leave Maine - even if you have the money to buy hay, it’s not available. :no:
On the other hand RBP, if you’d like to leave your horses at home along with the shavings and just drop off the hay here on your way to Aiken. . . !
I have about 3 tons left from my big buy in November and I dread the day when I have to go look for more. . .
Leave the shavings at home, no problem getting them here, but if you’ve got nice hay bring as much as you can. At least that’ll give you time to get your name on the “hay” list
Is someone else driving who can bring a truck load? or empty trailer load? You could always get a new horse from the Event horse sale so you don’t drive an empty trailer home!
Again, don’t want to panic people, you can buy it, but not always the best hay and pricey.
Everything else is plentiful - feed, shavings. Call ahead to get your shavings delivered for when you arrive so you don’t have to bring them.
ship a load of hay and make $$$
If anyone does have some nice hay and is able to bring/send a tractor trailer load, it’d sell in a “new york minute”!
[QUOTE=aiken4horses;2914939]
If anyone does have some nice hay and is able to bring/send a tractor trailer load, it’d sell in a “new york minute”![/QUOTE]
By the time you buy the hay up north and then pay for shipping, not a whole lot of profit left over. Even at $10/bale.
Y’all are lucky! Out here in California our hay is nearing $20/bale. :eek: Does anyone want to drive out west and sell me some for $10? Anyone???
I hazard a guess that your CA bales are nearly twice as big as ours, so don’t get all jealous! :lol:
I know someone who may be coming down with a load next week (between 200 and 300 bales…I’m not sure how much her trailer holds). She’s got enough hay there for her own, but has to make the drive so can bring some down with her for someone else when she comes.
PM me if you’re intersted…
In south Florida, I heard of standard size (50 lbs ±) bales of mixed timothy and alfalfa going for $22 at the feed store. Granted, those are “single bale” prices, but enough for me to convince my daughter to leave her mare home (she’s working at Gulfstream)…
the bigger the better…
we are getting the HUGE bales of alfalfa/orchard delivered for $85/bale. These bales equal 10-12 regular bales of hay in lbs - making each bale between $7 - $8.00/bale. It is lovely hay. Storage and handling are the key elements. If you have room, and a tractor with lift forks, it’s the way to go.
Is now a good time to tell you all that i just picked up 80 bales of beautiful top quality hay for $3 a bale…
I may be in NZ but we have the panic of a potential hay shortage coming up this year, hence I just went out and bought as much as I can fit into my barn. Im rapt to be able to pay cost price for it, in 3-4 months that same hay will be $7-8 a bale.
To all:
Unfortunately we aren’t asking folks to bring hay because of the prices being high, we are asking them to bring hay because there isn’t any here.
Can’t get it.
Trailers full of hay sold out well before they hit the state line.
So no matter what you are willing to pay, bring your own hay.
It will save you a lot of trouble finding it, and it will help the locals not get further into a crunch.
.
No Cause for Panic!!!
Just a quick note from Aiken Saddlery. We wanted to set the record straight. We are not in any way having a shortage of any northern hays such as timothy, alfalfa, orchard grass,etc. Prices are slightly higher than last year, but not much. I think we all know about the current cost of diesel to fuel our trucks and can understand that of course freight has increased correspondingly.
This is true. And I was about to tell the Aiken people that East SC Hay Distribution in Camden has hay. YEAH, it’s expensive, but they have it.
I buy all my hay from Aiken Saddlery. Coastal can be on short supply, but I have never known them to run out of the other hays. Delivery with stacking is cheap and the service is always great! So great is the service that they helped me calculate how much hay I would need to last all winter and got mnay of us to buy early so we don’t run out. We have enough to SHARE!:):)
