New Hay???

[andreaB]

due to injury my horse has to be stabled full time & i've just about run out of hay , not expecting to be feeding it at this time of year

i'm really struggling to find some of last years & know that you are not supposed to feed very new hay , which is what is currently readily available

does anyone have any suggestions??

how long should you really wait before feeding new season hay?? i'm wondering if some early cut stuff would be ok , but would probably only be a month old anyway

any advice greatly appreciated!!

[eventerbabe]

i had a similar thread in horse and health care. i think Jessey said it was ok to feed from about 3 months old. as long as you feed in moderation and maybe consider steaming or soaking you should be fine :)

[andreaB]

i'd always been led to believe 3 months too

but can i find any 3 months or older!!

theres only so many buckets off grass i can pick a day!!

[eventerbabe]

i'm actually feeding stuff that is "new" (about 1 month!!) to my horse, but mixed in with some 2 year old hay we have. if you can track down some oat straw, mix that in with the new stuff to bulk it out and decrease any laminitis risk. will also keep horsey occupied for longer :) if you were closer to me i'd gladly sell you some of ours!! i've hay coming out of my ears at the mo!! 3 big round bales of old hay and 1 half bale of new hay we got from the farmer as a freebie. i've run out of room to put it all!!!

[angelfben]

There's no real reason you can't feed 'new' hay other than bare in mind it is effectively just grass you are feeding and be careful of how much you feed and how quickly your horse is eating it to avoid colic, laminitis, weight gain etc.

I usually give hay about 6 weeks to 'sweat out' before I feed it properly, but they get a bit of new stuff now and then.