Seed Hay v's Meadow Hay

[Jakes Mum]

Can anybody help me with the advantages / disadvantages of feeding seed or meadow hay? I have the choice of either and wonder what would be the best one for my boys :)

[nutkin]

i think seed hay offers little feed value but is ideal if your horse tends to be overweight whereas the meadow hay is full of goodness and great for horses that tend to lose weight easily. I would always opt for meadow hay which is generally dearer but contains more nutrients.

[nat17]

Hello you!

I had Minnie on meadow hay at the place before this one and she loved it! But her waistline didint! If a horse is working and is an average do-er then I would say meadow hay is ok to use but for fatties I would advise against it, simply because of its 'calorie' content...

How about a meadow mix? My hay at the moment is a mixture, less meadow hay though, its smells lovely and has the green running through it but the overall is seed hay.:)

[Jakes Mum]

Thanks for replying you two :)

Sounds like the seed hay will be the better option then as they are both good-doers.

I fed Jake the seed hay last year, it was Timothy based and was quite stemmy, the seed hay 'sample' I have to try this year is Ryegrass based, still stemmy but softer. The Timothy hay is also available.

So, with the seed hay being more stemmy I guess it will take longer to chew therefore extending the eating time keeping them occupied for longer ? I have also heard that it is harder to digest though, will this cause problems? Can a horse get colic from eating seed hay?

I have also read that seed hay is higher in protein than meadow hay, what effect does this have ?

And, one more question (for the moment) :p I understand that ryegrass is higher in fructans than other grasses, so does this make it a higher risk of causing laminitis or are the fructan levels / risks reduced once the grass has been made into hay?