I don’t know about your area, but here in Maine I’ve found it sprayed on all kind of grass hay. Farmers have even told me when they use it, generally in extra-wet seasons.
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And you can usually smell it when the bale is opened…? 
@cnd8 since this has gone on for awhile, it may be worth a little ulcer support. That might not be why he initially refused, but after so many days without a full belly, it may play into why he’s continuing.
Thinking outside the box…this might be a little crazy, but if he must have peanut, how about renting a storage unit and storing it there? Then take a bale or two to the barn at a time? Would that be less $$ than the pricy alfalfa?
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That is what I suggested above and she shot the idea down. I am not familiar with peanut hay but how could it be messier than any other legume( alfalfa/ clover)??
I am not sure it matters if you or anyone else here thinks it is or is not messier than any other legume hay. The barn owner said no to the peanut hay. The OP has decided that this barn is good even with the no peanut hay rule.
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I was just curious as to the difference. No need to bite my head off for asking a question…
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Peanut is a lot messier than any other hay. It’s very friable (is that the right word?). It’s mostly leaves and the leaves fall off as soon as you touch it, breath on it, look at it…
If your horse doesn’t come around on the orchard and it’s just for the winter, you could maybe try some chaff and/or alfalfa cubes? Even if you supplemented alfalfa hay with some soaked alfalfa cubes, that might average out to cheaper hay for the winter. Cubes are usually dirt cheap.
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Your post made me LOL. It really is true, as much as I hate to admit it. For those of you who haven’t experienced perennial peanut…imagine a very leafy bale of alfalfa. We love that right? Then imagine that same leafy bale without 95% of the stems that hold it together. That’s how perennial peanut is. The horse love it because it’s all rich leafy goodness, but it really does fall apart just looking at it. Even in a 1” hay bag, the leafs poof out everywhere as it is picked up, carried, and placed down. I’m peanut hays number one fan, but I get why this barn I’m at with a custom BLACK rubber paver floor that shows every crumb doesn’t want my peanut hay there. Plus, there’s no room for it. I get it. I’m just aggravated bc my horse won’t eat the orchard he’s been eating for the last couple years. He is consuming more loose now but still won’t finish the bag that’s hanging. It’s so weird. Mixed in 1/2 flake of alfalfa with the orchard tonight so I’m anxious to see what remnants, if any, there are tomorrow.
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Thank you.
Could you provide a Portagrazer or other, non messy, hay feeder and fill it yourself with peanut hay. The larger portagrazers are like a big trash can and usually hold a couple of days of hay.
The XL model holds 3 flakes. He eats at least 4 (of the big western bales) flakes per day, and this still is the storage problem. I’d have to buy the peanut in bundles of 21 bales and store it. Nowhere to do so.
Update: I picked up a bale of alfalfa and started adding in 1/2 flake of that with the flakes of orchard and he started to clean it all up. He was leery of his hay bag still for first few days but has now started to empty that again as well. I’m guessing he must have gotten a thorn in his mouth from it or something. IDK. His strike is over. Not sure if time, or the addition of the little alfalfa supplement did the trick.
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I have done similar when my mare turns up her nose at first cut hay – just add a little bit of second cut, and she eats it and goes right on eating the first cut.
Glad he is deciding to eat again! Just an idea if things get hard again- I live in FL where hay prices are nuts, and I don’t feed coastal. The most economical way is usually to order a semi load from up north, which would be insane for me, given that I only have a couple of horses. I have, in the past, “shared” a load of hay with others. Perhaps this may be an option if needed- find someone local who feeds peanut hay, and pay a little more than your share so they will store it? Kind of a pain and you still have to deal with the cleanliness issue, but perhaps an option if things get desperate.
@equisis peanut hay is local to us, but I have to buy in 21 bale bundles and have no storage. Unfortunately, it’s not local enough for me to run to the hay guy every couple days for a couple more bales with no storage available at the barn I board at. We have Standlee hay distributor in town, so nobody I know of orders the semis with the easy, yet expensive, access to Standlee. Most everyone around here feeds coastal, and either peanut or the occasional flake of alfalfa from Standlee.
This is probably not the case but…
That’s not a slow feed bag you’re putting the hay in, is it?
I have known lots of horses that won’t go through the effort of pulling hay out of a slow feed bag if it isn’t top notch.
So, if it is a slow feed bag, get one with normal sized holes, or cut the holes larger in the one you’ve got.
@endlessclimb, he has always had a 1" bag for the last couple years. So, yes, when he started protesting, it was in the small net. Then, I figured as much, so I put it in a 1 3/4" bag. He still wouldn’t touch it. After he started eating it loose, and especially once the alfalfa was added, he deemed the 1 3/4" bag to be acceptable again. This horse, I’m telling ya!
Gotcha- it was more a roundabout way to say, perhaps there is someone very local to you feeding peanut from whom you may be able to privately purchase a bale at a time 
Sounds like you have your problem solved, though! I have a picky eater as well so I am, unfortunately, familiar with the struggle.
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It sounds like you’ve mostly figured out a solution, but I’m curious as to where you’re located? Those prices you’re paying for hay are obscene!
I lived in Auburn, AL for 5 years and am familiar with perennial peanut hay. It’s a high quality forage, and horses love it, but the mess is quite annoying. With what you’re paying for hay and the storage issues you’re having, hay cubes or even the Standlee compressed bales are both viable options to replace part or all of his hay. Either would save you a significant amount of money and trouble, from the sound of things.
@Montanas_Girl I’m near Valdosta, GA. Perennial peanut in the area is $10/50 lb bale, Standlee alfalfa is $38/bale, orchard is $38/bale, and timothy is $39/bale (all 3 string, 100 lb. bales). It’s insane. I do give him 5 lbs per day of soaked alfalfa cubes to help, but I still like him to have the roughage to chew. Compressed Standlee hay is just about $2 cheaper per 100 lbs…so not enough to make a real dent, so to say.
Cubes are actually 100% equivalent to hay as far as a roughage/nutrition source, for what that’s worth. I don’t know if that helps you at all. If your bales are 100 pounds, then what you’re paying actually isn’t all that high. I’m currently buying compressed alfalfa/orchardgrass bales (55 pounds) for $13.50 myself. Cheaper than Standlee and IMO better quality, but if they had to be shipped another several hundred miles to get to you, they’d probably be priced at close to what you’re paying now.
Wish I could be more help! It was a terrible year for hay, so that’s not helping the current situation for any of us.
I have a friend who’s horse absolutely refuses to each grass hay, he would rather starve himself. It goes completely untouched. She has to get an orchard/ alfalfa mix for him.
