Hay cubes or pellets - what brand works for you?

[HappyHorsey]

Hi! I’m searching for hay alternatives for my old horses that have trouble chewing hay. They’ve done well on Triple Crown chopped hays, but even the chopped hay has been quite coarse recently, and they have trouble chewing it.

They will NOT eat soaked Ontario Dehy timothy or alfalfa cubes. They like Blue Seal Hay Stretcher, but it takes a very long time to soak. I’ve never tried Standlee products but have heard good things. If you feed hay cubes or pellets, do you have a brand preference for quality, palatability, and ease of soaking?

[mydogs]

I like the standlee pellets. Easy to soak, never had a problem with quality, and they send out coupons often.

[cayuse]

I am using Semican timothy pellets for my minis. It soaks fast and they like it. I have used Standlee pellets with good results, too. I do think the Semican pellets are not quite as hard as the Standlee ones.
My old gelding would not eat the Ontario-dehy cubes either. I tried several times over the years and he always turned his nose up at it.

[RedHorses]

Mine prefers Huron brand alfalfa cubes. They are not as hard packed as many other cubes (avoid HiWay Agri - they are like rock. I ended up chucking most of the bag away - my eats anything labrador retriever in horse costume wouldn’t finish them, and I didn’t even try with my prefers Huron horse) and soak nicely and quickly in hot water.

[Gemma23426]

+1 for alfalfa cubes

[Larbear]

My guy seems to prefer the Standlee alfalfa cubes over other brands of cubes. I never tried their pellets though, maybe my guy would eat them? Not sure if he would since he wouldn’t eat other brands of pellets.

[pezk]

Semican from Canada. I use both alfalfa cubes and pellets. Horses love them.

[ryansgirl]

Standlee Alfalfa pellets from Tractor Supply. I’ve never had an issue with them and my mare loves them. I always soak them before I feed them - ALWAYS. This time of the year i use hot water and my mare loves hot “soup” when it’s cold out. I’ve seen too many serious choke episodes that i would never risk feeding them dry and i love getting extra water into them. They have a relatively low NSC which my mare needs. I prefer the Standlee brand because they always have coupons and Tractor Supply puts them on sale at times and sends out emails with 10%, 15%, etc. off of your purchase at random times. And I have a TS 3 miles from my office and I drive right by it to and from work so it’s super convenient.

I used to feed cubes (Ontario dehy) but she didn’t care for them after awhile so I switched to pellets. I have fed BS Hay Stretcher in the past but the NSC is in the high teens which isn’t good really for metabolic horses.

[zakkandtoto]

Standlee timothy pellets
Triple Crown Naturals Timothy Balance Cubes

The latter for the older guys that need more fiber. They’ve been soaking up more quickly than the timothy pellets in our colder weather.

[mlb722]

My horse hates the Ontario cubes but cleans up standlee. They soften pretty quickly.

[Skeezix]

Another vote for Standlee. We had tried other brands and the horse wouldn’t eat them. The vet suggested them and our horses love them. We use the timothy/alfalfa cubes.

[baydraftmare]

I use the Dumor brand Alfalfa/Bermuda mix hay pellets at Tractor Supply. They also have straight alfalfa and an alfalfa timothy mix pellet and all 3 varieties come in cubes if you prefer that. The pellets soak quick in warm water, less than 10 minutes. I feed 3 lbs a day to my 28 yr old mare, mixing it with her senior feed to make a mash. I’ve had horses with no molars at all that got all their hay this way, 8 lbs senior and 10 lbs hay pellets. They kept weight well. The Blue Seal Hay Stretcher I’m not a fan of, it’s not really hay. Hay pellets or cubes are actually hay.

[Simkie]

I also do the Semican. Prefer it over Standlee!

[yaya]

@baydraftmare

I use the Dumor brand Alfalfa/Bermuda mix hay pellets at Tractor Supply. They also have straight alfalfa and an alfalfa timothy mix pellet and all 3 varieties come in cubes if you prefer that. The pellets soak quick in warm water, less than 10 minutes. I feed 3 lbs a day to my 28 yr old mare, mixing it with her senior feed to make a mash. I’ve had horses with no molars at all that got all their hay this way, 8 lbs senior and 10 lbs hay pellets. They kept weight well. The Blue Seal Hay Stretcher I’m not a fan of, it’s not really hay. Hay pellets or cubes are actually hay.

I second the Dumor Alfalfa/Bermuda pellets. My picky 24-year-old loves them! He even knows them by name now (I call it his “Slurpee”, and he whinnies when I ask, “Are you ready for your Slurpee?”).

They soften quickly, even if I forget to set them out to soak ahead of time.

[Nance_Tapley-Peck]

I have a large boarding facility in Ca. I have two Cushings horses. My vet said no alfalfa. So am feeding Bermuda pellets or Orchard pellets. After reading more on Cushings, am wondering if better NSC in alfalfa/bermuda pellets? And my feed co has me use Safe Choice to give them their Prescend, dissolved. Now reading the NSC is very high. What is better? Both horse have bad teeth due to age and not being floated before they came into my ranch, so thinking 1/4 inch pellets best. My feed store has Ametzcua pellets and have a Tractor Supply nearby.

[grayarabs]

Nance - I’m dealing with similar. No alfalfa. Suspected IR horse. I’m having to research all of this - again. Now it’s not NSC but ESC + starch - and iron. I was just researching some Bermuda pellets and saw higher than expected starch and also iron. Starch cannot be soaked out of it. Also some of the pellet blends have molasses in them. Also not good. I guess could be soaked out. I’ve been talking to a guy at Ametza about getting an analysis on their Bermuda. The compressed hay and the pellets. I hope both come out low in ESC, starch and iron.

[4LeafCloverFarm]

I use Standlee products (carried by TSC) - both the compressed Alfalfa and the pelleted Alfalfa. I have two horses prone to founder/laminitis and require fairly strict diets low in NSC and min access to lush grass. Alfalfa pellets/cubes are typically lower in NSC than Timothy or Orchard Grass pellets. Standlee doesn’t have a Bermuda product, so can’t speak to that. The table below shows the sugar/starch in their forage and pelleted products. Of course, with Alfalfa, you’re getting higher protein than other forages, even though its lower in starch, sugars and fructans. So if higher protein is a no go, then Alfalfa isn’t a good choice (16% protein for Alfalfa and 8% for Timothy or Orchard Grass).

https://standleeforage.com/nutrition/nutritional-papers/low-carb-forage-options

[seabreeze]

Any brand alfalfa pellets work for me. I’ve found that soaking with hot water softens them up immediately. I use an electric tea kettle to boil water.

[stb]

If you are in the Southeast you should check out Seminole alfalfa pellets. I much prefer them to the Standlee brand.

[pasolover2]

I use the timothy balanced cubes by TC. Low sugar/starch, no iron, etc. Works very well for my three which are IR prone. These cubes have been balanced to themselves as to copper, zinc, etc. and can be fed as a full meal. That is the only thing mine get plus a low esc+starch hay.