This seems to be the big question when we talk to local hay producers. Often their response is something like, "So you want me to test this hay...why?" So if one of our local producers is unwilling to test their hay, we typically get a few samples and have it tested ourselves. If the hay looks super nice, like the first cutting crop this year, we'll take all we can get and figure out how to balance it later. Here is one of the loads of hay we got earlier this summer. This is really nice hay. Here are several reasons why we love this hay: 1) This is an alfalfa grass mix. These mixes are not sprayed with weed killers because of the mix. There is a nice variety of nutrition from the mix of timothy, orchard and alfalfa. As you can see in the analysis, the NSC is only 8.2%. This is excellent and perfect for our QH buckskin Antonio who has PSSM, and our little easy keeper cutting mare, Reba. An NSC (Non-structural Carbohydrates) under 12% is recommended. To get an NSC%, you add the WSC (water soluble carbohydrates) + starch = NSC. 2) We love this hay because of the protein levels achieved mainly from the alfalfa. The 16.5% dry matter protein isn't too much for our all-adult crowd of horses, and especially our tends-to-get-tubby mare. Protein contains amino acids that are the building blocks for muscle function, including vital organs, skeletal, and connective tissue. Plus, we like to look at our horses' nice coats and hooves which are achieved from good protein intake. 3) We love that this is a first-cutting hay. Typically 1st cutting hay tends to have an over all better nutritional level from the roots having from last fall until May to soak up nutrients from the ground. In most areas where hay is grown, spring provides moisture, which tends to inhibit starch levels from getting too high. Clover typically hasn't taken over, and neither have weeds. 4) The calcium to phosphorus to magnesium ratios. Calcium needs to be 1.2 to 2, up to 6 times higher than phosphorus, for skeletal functions, along with many other functions. Magnesium aids in the absorption of calcium, as well as muscle contraction regulation. Magnesium also aids in lowering circulating insulin levels. We send our hay samples into Equi-Analytical, located in Ithaca, NY. Our horses typically receive 1/2 to 1/4 of their daily forage intake with this hay. They also forage in the pasture and also have a much lower quality grass hay available to them.
This week was an exciting one here on the Savvy Farm! We found this critter, just munching away on the cat food. Like most horse owners, we were appalled to see that this EPM carrier was on our farm with plenty of access to our hay. The next day our neighbor brought over a live trap and we set up another make shift trap – a 55 gallon drum which was open on one end and laid on it’s side with cat food in the bottom. 2 nights later, our visitor came back, and he had walked right into our 55 gallon drum – perfect to contain him and relocate him to a wildlife area. Lesson learned – no cat food left out at night! The reason opossum are a huge danger to horses is because they carry EPM (Equine Protozoal Myeloencephalitis). Opossum pick up the protozoal parasite from cats, raccoon, skunk, etc. The protozoa is then turned into sporocysts and then excreted by the opossum onto the horse’s feed – mostly hay, but also grain. Once the horse ingests the sporocysts, it migrates into the horses brain and can cause devastating long term brain damage if not treated quickly. There is quite a bit of interesting research on EPM – just Google RPM in horses, and several excellent articles will come up. You can bet that we learned our lesson and definitely do not want any of our horses subjected to EPM! And as for our barn cats - they will be on a daily 12 hr fast from 6pm to 6am from now on! If you are concerned about opossum voiding on your horses hay at night, be sure to use a feeder to contain your horse’s hay and keep it clean and free from all debris and excrement of all kinds.
Cold weather horse-keeping creates added challenges for asthmatic horses. Here are tips to help. In much of the United States, winter weather and shorter days mean horses will spend more time inside. For those animals with equine asthma, living and working indoors can exacerbate clinical signs of the disease, making it even harder for them to breathe. But there are management practices you as an owner can adopt to keep asthmatic horses comfortable during the winter months. Equine asthma describes chronic inflammation of horses’ lungs. Commonly known as “heaves,” equine asthma causes labored breathing, nasal discharge, and coughing, all of which are worse during exercise. The disease is irreversible and threatens a horse’s performance ability, as well as his general comfort and welfare. Your veterinarian can diagnose equine asthma in your horse and prescribe medications and certain nutritional supplements, such as omega-3 fatty acids, to help control clinical signs. Targeted management practices that protect your horse’s “breathing zone” are also essential. Open your barn doors and windows whenever possible. We know certain regions of the country have severe winter weather, which means you must close up the barn. However, good ventilation that moves fresh air through the stable is important for horses with compromised respiratory systems. Feed your horse in a natural head-down feeding position. Inhaling pollen and dust particles worsen asthma in horses, so veterinarians advise against feeding asthmatic horses from raised hay racks or hay nets that allow dust to fall into a horse’s nostrils when they are foraging. Savvy Feeders keep hay at ground level, which makes them an excellent solution for feeding asthmatic horses. Soak or steam your hay. Soaking or steaming forage removes or weighs down dust particles and pollen that can irritate your horse’s respiratory tract if inhaled. And, yes, you can use The Savvy Feeder to offer your horse steamed or soaked hay, because our feeders are designed to drain excess water. When feeding wet hay, we recommend selecting a larger grate opening size than you would use for dry hay. You’ll also want to wipe out the feeder on a regular basis to avoid spoilage. Don’t clean, sweep, or use a leaf blower in your barn while your horse is inside. We all like a tidy barn. However, cleaning the barn aisle kicks up a tremendous amount of dust and residual hay. To protect your asthmatic horse, move him outside before you start cleaning and wait for the dust to settle before bringing him back inside. Avoid riding in dusty indoor arenas. Rain, snow, mud, and ice often force our riding inside during the winter, but breathing in dust—especially during exertion—can make equine asthma worse. However, arena-footing management can become challenging in freezing weather for those of us who use water to douse dust (hello frozen hoses and busted pipes!). If you must ride your asthmatic horse inside, try doing so during low-traffic times at your barn or immediately after the footing has been watered and worked. Dust-management additives, such as magnesium chloride, can also help hold moisture in footing. Other non-water-based products can add weight to or bind footing particles and might also be an option for dust control. Minimize or eliminate ammonia in horses’ stalls. That “pee” smell in barns is actually ammonia, a noxious gas that results when urine, and even manure, breakdown. Breathing it in is bad for both horse and human respiratory systems, and it’s especially problematic for horses (and people!) who have asthma. Ammonia is also heavier than oxygen and tends to linger near the floor, where horses eat and sleep. Cleaning stalls meticulously and frequently is the best way to reduce ammonia levels. You can also use a stall freshener that chemically neutralizes ammonia. Additionally, pieced-together stall mats allow urine under them and can be difficult to clean. If possible, instead use a single-piece mat system in stalls housing horses with asthma. To learn more about equine asthma, please visit the American Association of Equine Practitioners website and talk to your veterinarian.
It's time to be thinking about what type of hay you will be purchasing for the coming year. We are looking forward to our usual first cutting alfalfa/grass mix, and a low-quality first cutting grass for our 'air fern' quarter horse Reba. We have consistently observed that the first cutting hay in our area typically is baled when there is a higher moisture content in the ground, so it has always been very low in NSC (10.7% - 8%). We very pleased with this and our horses come out of winter looking nicely muscled with lean necks and decent concavity in their hooves. Another observation in our hay is that the calcium levels are quite high, and the magnesium levels are very low. To balance this, we feed a bit of grain so that we can top-dress with magnesium and pre and probiotics. Balancing magnesium and calcium is vital, especially when feeding alfalfa. Unbalanced magnesium levels can lead to soreness, muscle tremors, nervousness, and inattention (taken from Juliet Getty's book, Feed Your Horse Like a Horse.) And who wants a sore inattentive horse? We recommend Equi-Analytical | Profiling Feed for Better Nutrition to hay testing. And we recommend FeedXL Online Horse Nutrition Calculator | FeedXL.com for balancing nutrition. We hope this helps. Blessings, Julie Johnson, Savvy Feeder
Not all equine slow feeders and hay nets are equal when it comes to horse safety Slow feeding hay is an excellent choice for horses. As grazing animals with only one stomach (unlike cows and goats, both of which are ruminants), horses are designed mentally and physically to forage throughout the day. In fact, veterinarians consider any period of more than four hours as fasting for horses. Those fasting periods can leave the horse’s stomach empty and expose its fragile squamous mucosa to high acidity levels, leading to equine gastric ulcer syndrome (EGUS) of the squamous portion of the stomach. Researchers estimate that 60% of recreational horses and more than 90% of performance horses suffer from this painful condition. In addition to being a disease, EGUS is a welfare issue and can lead to weight loss, “cinchyness” during saddling, behavior issues under saddle, and poor performance. Slow feeding is an important management tool in treating and managing ulcers in horses. In addition to improving under-saddle behavior, slow feeding can help limit or avoid equine behavioral issues once considered “stable vices.” Stereotypies like weaving, stall walking, and cribbing can result from confinement-related boredom or stress, as well as from physical discomfort. Continuous yet restricted access to forage acts as an enrichment activity and keeps horses occupied. Slow feeders are also an important part of managing horses with equine metabolic syndrome (EMS) and insulin dysregulation (ID) to increase their time spent foraging (important for all the reasons previously stated) while limiting their overall daily calorie and nonstructural carbohydrate (NSC) intake. This, in turn, can help prevent occurrences of metabolic-related laminitis (a painful and often deadly cause of lameness in horses). However, while slow feeding is good for horses, not all slow feeders are created equally or safe for horses. That’s why our founder, Julie, created The Savvy Feeder. “My horses were wasting incredible amounts of hay everywhere,” she recalls. “They were stomping and laying and peeing on the hay instead of eating it. And when they would eat it, they gobbled it down in an hour and had to wait for another six to eight hours for more to eat again.” That’s when Julie had a dream that included a vision of a slow feeder. That vision excited her so much that she went to the store and purchased materials and asked her neighbor to build the feeder, just like she envisioned in her God-given dream. Six years later, The Savvy Feeder came to fruition. Over the years, Julie experimented with 30-plus types of materials. She even sold her farm to focus on testing each iteration. More than two years of full-time experimentation with the best agricultural, medical, and automotive materials available produced a slow feeder that's safe for horses. As a result, The Savvy Feeder is unlike any other slow feeder on the market. Made of a durable yet slightly flexible poly material, it’s safe for your horse’s teeth. The flexible poly material also reduces hoof-entrapment risk and, when under extreme pressure, the grate is designed to break away (don’t worry—The Savvy Feeder is reparable if this happens). Its square, pedestal-like shape also means it won’t roll away from your horse or end up under the fence. The bottom line? Most horses are healthier and happier foraging from a slow hay feeder, and we believe The Savvy Feeder is the best and safest option on the market. If you have any questions about incorporating slow feeding into your management, or if your horse has health issues that require dietary management, please reach out to your veterinarian or a qualified equine nutritionist. If you want to learn more about how The Savvy Feeder works, give us a call—Julie is happy to answer your questions.
A picture is a thousand words, and this picture pretty much sums it up. Horses are designed to forage. Foraging is an innate behavior that not only sustains the horse, but also mentally satisfies the horse. As you can see here, this savvy fella prefers foraging from his feeder over loose hay. That is because horses are designed to browse, nibble and graze. Not only is the horse designed to efficiently digest his food when consumed in a foraging manner, but the horse is mentally satisfied when foraging, too. Long gone are the days of throwing a few flakes out at 7am and at 5pm. Foraging from a slow feeder extends feeding time 2-7x's over throwing hay on the ground or the stall floor. Having restricted, continuous forage is stimulating, calming, and satisfying to the horse. Ok now let's kick it up a notch...providing several different type of forage either in layers in one feeder, or providing several feeders, each with a different variety of forage! This is how we feed. We have 9 different types of hay here on the farm and typically feed 3 different hay types each day. Our 4 horses curiously enjoy browsing from feeder to feeder. We've been in the slow feeding business since 2008. It is such a blessing to see the horse industry adopt practices that compliment the horse's innate need to forage. Hallelujah!
