While I’m waiting for a call back from my vet to discuss this issue I thought I would post it here and ask for experiences and opinions. I have an older horse (late teens) who has successfully been on a timothy/alfalfa blend for many years now and is going quite well. Never one to fix what ain’t broke, I did have a conversation with a trusted friend who suggested moving him over to an orchard/alfalfa mix stating that it was easier to digest and was what was given to horses post-colic. This was new information for me and I certainly want to follow up with my vet to discuss my horse but I would like to hear your feedback. Do you agree? Disagree?
If it ain’t broke, why fix it?
That said, good OG is good hay. Timothy is harder to do well, it can get stemmy and high in lignin. I’d use good Timothy over good OG, but if the Timothy is questionable, I’d choose OG in a heartbeat.
Can you feed both a TA and OA mix? The more variety you can feed, the better.
I prefer a good timothy before I go for orchard. however, at least in my region, orchard/alfalfa mix will fetch you bales 3-4 dollars less than the timothy/alfalfa mix. It really depends on where it comes from what cutting it is, and the quality.
It’s impossible to say what might be a good option for you without knowing the quality of the hay. However, in my experience, the horses with sensitive digestive systems in our care benefit from the timothy more than the orchard. If someone needs to feed an alfalfa blend and save some money, we suggest the o/a, but otherwise t/a is the favorite.
To me, this completely depends on the actual hay I am considering. I often end up buying orchard/alf because due to the weather most timothy ends up overripe and stemmy around here. If the hay growers can get it up at the right time, it’s lovely, but it rains so much in late May/early June when it is actually the correct time to put it up that it’s rare to find perfect Timothy. My horses turn their noses up at stemmy timothy.
Orchard is more forgiving, even overripe it stays pretty soft. My usual hay guy does a 70/30 mix which is very nice. Many people mistake the first cutting for second cutting.
Thank you for the insight. It’s not broke which is great and I’m lucky that the quality of the timothy mix is fairly consistent. It is a bit pricey but he eats well and has a very healthy bloom. I’m not sure that I could do a mix of the two. If there isn’t a great difference in palatability then there is no need to switch. However if the the orchard mix was considered easier to digest or better for the older horse then I would reconsider.
Kind of depends on availability and price in your area too. I’d go for the highest quality available over type if he is doing fine on either. The price difference is a wash because with the higher quality, you don’t feed as much and they really don’t need supplements to make up for lesser quality hay.
Friend means well but can’t see any reason to switch because of something she said…which probably came off the Internet.
I agree, if it ain’t broke, why fix it? You’d really need to do an analysis of both hays to make the right decision. Timothy is harder to grow and more $. My horses are easy keepers, so I tend to prefer hay that got a bit mature, since I like them to have something to eat all day long and don’t need to worry about putting weight on.
Around here, I’ve found the orchard grass seems much nicer than the timothy. I’m just not a fan of timothy. Orchard with a bit of alfalfa would be my dream bale! Haven’t found that here but I have a wonderful farmer who makes the BESTEST orchard round bales and I give alfalfa cubes/pellets daily…works fabulous for me! If you have that combo readily available on a comparable price, I’d try it if I wanted but don’t think I would feel the need to if my horse was doing great on what he was already eating and it worked for me pricewise.
