Reality check on "low sugar" hay

[Scribbler]

I’m curious what you think about the test results from this hay dealer. Would you consider the following hays as genuinely low sugar if you needed to worry about that? Below is dry matter on a couple of their hays. This is a good established hay dealer that has responded to local interest (and local competition) in supplying hay tests. I appreciate the fact they are testing, but I feel like these values aren’t that far off the standard for good hay generally. Or am I missing something?

Timothy: NFC 19.79, Starch .23, WSC 10.07, ESC 7.95.

Local mixed grass: NFC 18.93, Starch .65, WSC 10.48, ESC 8.01

There is no line for NSC. I understand NSC + Pectin = NFC. I understand there is a lot of pectin in alfalfa, but I thought it was minimal in grass hay. Could a grass hay be 10% pectin?

I realize that different horse metabolic issues have different requirements for various carbs or sugars.

Thoughts?

[Ghazzu]

Here’s a reference on typical grasses. I believe this is an amalgamation of data from multiple sources.

[Scribbler]

It won’t load for me at the moment, but if it’s Equi Analytical, I looked that up and their average on grass hay is about like the hay here.

[JB]

You need the DM percentage to convert this to the as-fed numbers, which will be higher.

But I guarantee a DM with

Starch .23, WSC 10.07, ESC 7.95
or
Starch .65, WSC 10.48, ESC 8.01

is pretty darn suitable for an EMS horse. The 2nd one might be every so slightly borderline as the ESC + starch might be a hair above 10% as-fed

EMS horses really need ESC + starch < 10%, with starch < 4%

NSC is WSC + starch

So given that these are good for EMS horses, they are totally fine for normal horses. They’re so low, they might not actually be quite high enough for harder working horses.

[JB]

I didn’t feel like editing again LOL

It’s hard to find grass hays that fit the EMS needs of ESC + starch, so no, this isn’t typical.

It’s even sometimes hard to find good enough ESC + starch while also having WSC in this 10% or lower range - I’ve seen quite a few grasses with ESC + starch < 10% but WSC pushing 20%, which would be a problem for some more sensitive EMS horses.

[Scribbler]

Ok, good to know! Thank you!