Soaked Hay - Timing Question

[Pico_Banana]

Now that I have my horse at home and am entirely in charge of her care, I want to try Juliet Getty’s plan on feeding free-choice hay to reduce stress, improve ulcers, and lose weight. This requires that she literally have hay in front of her all the time. Not even ten minutes without while you fill the hay net. My mare is … shall we say on the zaftig side … but has struggled almost non-stop with ulcer issues since I bought her 3+ years ago. Most recently, we seemed to have found equilibrium by keeping her on one Nexium a day, but I’d like to get her off of that if possible. Hence, the free-choice hay.

I’m doing it as best as I can – feeding through small hole hay nets and soaking all hay (bought my first batch in too small an amount to justify getting it tested) to reduce sugar/calories.

Here’s my question, how long after you’ve soaked the hay is it good to feed them? I soaked some yesterday and gave it to her at 9 last night and there’s still a good amount left that I don’t want to have to throw away. Can I just leave it out for her? For how long?

Thank you, oh wise ones!

[Scribbler]

It’s going to depend on the weather and temperature. It will spoil faster in summer.

I would not myself leave wet hay around for more than 24 hours any time of year.

Btw while Julie Gettys book is a great nutrition primer, my own experience is that very easy keeper mares cannot have 24/7 free choice hay. I have seen horses get laminitis and founder from obesity on a free choice hay only diet.

I choose to feed multiple small feedings.

[kashmere]

For me, this depends on temps. When it’s warm out, wet hay can start to get gnarly fairly quickly. I do leave a slow feed net out in my guy’s paddock that is his “nibble” hay which he gets in addition to loose meals, and I’m a liiiittle bit less fastidious about that than I would be if it were his only source of hay - it gets rained on, etc. But I check it daily and if it’s beyond the pale. I toss it. Usually his rate of consumption outruns spoiling!

Hay soaked the day before wouldn’t necessarily concern me - but do give a sniff and see if it smells ferment-y or otherwise off.

[Red_Barn]

I agree with others: it completely depends on weather and humidity. And yes - soaked hay can go rancid and stinky really fast on a hot day.

If you do live in a hot climate, though, you can always soak it in smallish amounts and then spread it in the sun to dry for later use. (At least this works for me, but I’ve only done it in amounts suitable for a pony and a mini. The amounts you’d need for a full sized horse might just be too bulky and unwieldy for anything that ambitious.)

In other news: I agree with Scribbler. I don’t think an already hefty easy keeper really needs to have huge quantities of hay in front of her every second of the day. Smaller amounts, fed frequently, seem to me to be better regardless of the overall feeding plan.

[Pico_Banana]

Yeah, I figured I could give Getty’s approach a try for a month and see what happens. If she gains weight, my plan is multiple small feedings. How many do you do?

I have to say, though, that it’s nice to see hay that she CHOOSES to leave uneaten rather than hoovering it all down as fast as possible and then going without sometimes for hours, which is what she was doing most recently at our boarding barn where she got 18 lbs of hay in hay nets spread over three meal times, with most of it after she was brought in from turnout.

I’m still getting my barn organized so I don’t have a hay scale hung up yet, but she’s definitely eating more than 18 lbs. But before it was not soaked, so I’m hoping things are about even in terms of calories, if not better.

[Red_Barn]

@Pico_Banana

If she gains weight, my plan is multiple small feedings. How many do you do?

Right now my only chubster is a mini, and I try to keep his schedule pretty flexible, so I’m not a complete slave to his time table.

He’s out in a grazing muzzle for a couple of hours a day, and in a dry lot or stall the rest of the time, with small amounts of soaked hay or not-too-great dry hay tossed in every couple of hours. I use a small-hole hay net if I’m going to be gone all day, but he manages to empty that with remarkable speed, so, sadly, I can’t rely on it all the time.

He also gets three tiny Carb Safe meals a day, and the odd handful of sunflower seeds, so he’s never left standing around with nothing to do and nothing to eat for long periods of time. Like you, I really hate to see that.

[Weezer]

I have had problems with easy keepers on hay 24/7 and have switched to slow feed nets fed 4x a day: breakfast, lunch, dinner and midnight. I use a Batt latch timed gate release for the lunch and midnight feed so I don’t have to be there. For my mini, I use a hay ball like the one at the link below. They have to chase it around the field so it takes them longer to eat. I get 1 x1.5 flakes in a ball. 2 or 3 of those would allow your mare to always have hay but eat less. I wish I could use them for my whole herd but the balls would roll right under the electric fencing. https://greenhawk.com/wdItemDesc.asp?strilhID=Web&strmdNumber=STB9591&stricSKU=STB9591

[Red_Barn]

@Weezer

https://greenhawk.com/wdItemDesc.asp?strilhID=Web&strmdNumber=STB9591&stricSKU=STB9591

Whoa! That’s adorable.

The horse in the picture looks like a mini. Does that mean this thing is teeny-tiny enough for weeny little muzzles?

I think my mini would LOVE this thing. Throwing stuff around and making a mess is his reason to live.

[Weezer]

The holes are larger than a slow feed net - maybe 3 inches across. But they eat slowly because the ball rolls around a bit so they can’t just pull a steady stream of hay out of one spot.

[Red_Barn]

Thank you!

It’s not cheap, but it does look like it would be fun for winter, when everybody’s bored to death.