Can i feed my horse hay only?
Well i was wondering because i have friends who only give there horses hay and they seem fine. Is this okay to do with a healthy horse? my horse is very healthy and so could i do this with him?
my horse is on feed and everything i was just wondering if this is possible/good to do
some horses only need hay.
and yes it is better for horses to only be on hay because its a more natural food,roughage, and is better for the intestinal system.
but there are thing to consider before you put your horse on this diet only.
is it winter in your area?
” if so then a horse unblanketed needs more good in order to keep body temp normal and may need grain in order to do so.”
is you horse a hard keeper?
” aka he stall walks, is a light breed such as a TB, a horse like this needs grain to keep weight up ”
do you compete with your horse, does he have hard work outs?
” then your horse needs a good quality grain or pellet in order to stay healthy and have calories to burn.”
is your horse at a good weight now?
” if your horse is healthy then subtracting grain may cause weight problems or attitude problems.”
does your horse live outside all winter?
” he needs the grain”
if you horse is an easy keeper the subtraction of grain can probably allow him to loose the extra pounds and be more healthy.
just really you must observe and analyze your horses specific situation and work load.
Good Luck ! 
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January 11th, 2009 at 1:06 pm
Hay
Apples
Oats
Horse feed
And other stuff
Sincerely, Gabby Aguilera
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January 11th, 2009 at 1:32 pm
I guess you could…but in order for your horse to have energy and mantain energy/weight…..I would put him on some grain/oats/other feed.
*Your best idea would be to ask the vet*
Hope I helped…
Sincerely,
Bee.
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January 11th, 2009 at 1:46 pm
Yes, you can feed just hay. however, if you work your horse excessively (more than about 10 hours a week under saddle, depending on the horse) , or plan to compete, I would suggest you feed a little grain for energy, and nutrition balance. Feeding hay only works best with pastured horses, because they have the opportunity to fix deficiencies in their diet with greens. If your horse is not on good pasture, feeding hay only can still work, but you may need to add a few supplements, and a salt block. Overall, I think it would be fine, but consult your vet about it. Figure out how much your horse should be eating, how to transition him to only hay, and what supplements if any would help. Good Luck!
Best of luck in all things Horsey
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January 11th, 2009 at 2:20 pm
Hay is especiallly important during the winter because when horses digest it, they get energy from it to keep warm. However many minerals and vitamins found in the grain can really be supplemental to your horse. Also some things that enhance the horse's coat and make their coat shinier are also in grain.Your best thing to do would be probably talking to your vet, but you may only want to do the hay only diet for a small amount of time. If you think about it, many horses are on only pasture, so it's kinda the same thing. Just remember if you are working your horse heavily, it is important that they have the extra nutrients in their diet.
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January 11th, 2009 at 2:58 pm
Yes, if he's a good doer that's fine, but to ensure that he gets all the minerals and vitamins needed it might be a good idea to also feed him a vitamin supplement or feed balancer mixed in a little chop, especially if you work your horse.
Depends also on the quality of hay you feed - there are great differences in nutritional values of different hays. Seed hay can be a bit restrictive as far as varieties of plants are concerned. I assume your horse also eats plenty of grass? If you decide to only feed hay make sure there's plenty of it.
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January 11th, 2009 at 3:32 pm
Do you exercise your horse regularly? Horses need grain when they are working especially, but if you dont ride or do much with them, they would probably be fine on just hay and grass. If you ride alot or they get alot of exercise you should feed atleast a little grain.
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January 11th, 2009 at 4:16 pm
Feeding a horse only hay is fine as long as the animal isn't being asked to do hard work, and isn't exposed to excessive heat, cold, and storms. Also, any animal which has special needs, such as a pregnant mare, a breeding stallion, and especially young, growing horses like weanlings and yearlings, needs to be fed more than just hay, or the animal will not remain healthy or grow properly. Lack of nutrition can drastically lower a stallion's sperm count, and may even make him sterile- and mares which are not fed enough during pregnancy can lose their foals or have foals which are born too weak to survive. Being excessively thin from malnutrition can also prevent a mare from conceiving in the first place- mares settle best when they are on a rising nutritional plane.
Quite apart from all this, if you live anywhere where it is winter and cold right now, you MUST feed your horse some type of grain or concentrate, or by spring time you will be able to count every one of his ribs because he will drop so much weight. Horses keep themselves warm by eating hay and certain kinds of grain- they ferment these products in their hindgut, and that generates the heat they need to stay warm during the cold winter months. This is the reason why horses often have the nickname "hay burners" because that's literally what they do, especially in the winter. If you are in the southern hemisphere and it's summer, then you probably do not need to feed grain, especially if your horse is also on rich pasture in addition to getting his hay. ( This column gets a lot of questions from international people, which is why I mention this.) Just make sure the horse has plenty of clean water and access to a salt or trace mineral block- horses lose a LOT of salt and water when it's hot and humid out- and the normal consumption of water for the average horse is anywhere from 12 to 15 gallons a day, depending on the animal's breed, age, gender, and work load.
Good luck- I hope that helps you.
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Lifelong horse owner and horse professional.
January 11th, 2009 at 4:49 pm
No that is abuse. You can feed them oats, apples, grass, carrots, horse treats.
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January 11th, 2009 at 5:31 pm
Yes … just make sure that its a GOOD QUALITY hay
we work (and I do mean work) 50+ horses at over 10,000 elevation they are on pasture in the summer and we feed them hay in the winter
with that said I do give my riding horse grain when i'm using them ( it gives them extra Energy and they like it)
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January 11th, 2009 at 5:57 pm
You CAN feed your horse just hay, but you have to up the portions and it also depends upon the type of hay you are feeding. Alfalfa mix is normally the best but there again, you're goinng to have to feed more hay to make up for the not feeding grain when you are riding.
If you're feeding just a simple grass hay, then I would advise to feed grain along with it.
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Over 40 years of training horses, riders and making/repairing saddles and tack. HPTS!!!
January 11th, 2009 at 6:47 pm
Hello,
I guess it would be OK to only feed your horse hay. But for a better energy and weight balance I would feed him something more.
This basically depends on how active your horse is, his age and body weight. In your position I would advice a vet, and if he says it is OK then do so.
Hoping I helped,
Oh, and MERRY XMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR =D
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January 11th, 2009 at 7:00 pm
some horses only need hay.
and yes it is better for horses to only be on hay because its a more natural food,ruphage, and is better for the intestinal system.
but there are thing to consider before you put your horse on this diet only.
is it winter in your area?
" if so then a horse unblanketed needs more good in order to keep body temp normal and may need grain in order to do so."
is you horse a hard keeper?
" aka he stall walks, is a light breed such as a TB, a horse like this needs grain to keep weight up "
do you compete with your horse, does he have hard work outs?
" then your horse needs a good quality grain or pellet in order to stay healthy and have calories to burn."
is your horse at a good weight now?
" if your horse is heathy then subtracting grain may cause weight problems or attitude problems."
does your horse live outside all winter?
" he needs the grain"
if you horse is an easy keeper the subtraction of grain can probably allow him to loose the extra pounds and be more heathy.
just really you must observe and analyze your horses specific situation and work load.
Good Luck !
References :
January 11th, 2009 at 7:13 pm
If your horse is a mature horse without any health problems you can feed him only forage (hay or pasture) In fact, many studies have shown that horses that are not feed grains have less hoof and joint problems in general.
The only problem with this is - you need to be certain the hay you are feeding is adequate. You may want to have it tested by your local district agriculturalist for protein count.
If you have a young horse, a pregnant or lactating mare, or a thin, underweight horse, you may need to suppliment your horse with grain, oil, or other complete feeds. And most horses will benefit from having constant access to a loose mineral, and of course a salt block and/or loose salt.
I think you will be fine, if you have further questions, talk to your vet. He can assess your horse personally.
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January 11th, 2009 at 7:35 pm
it depends. if your horse is older, it needs senior feed. if it is skinny it needs sweet feed. if it is sick it needs special feed. same with arthritis, lameness issues, or hoof problems (there are many other reasons as well). talk to your vet, and ask them what they think. some horses don't need any hay, "easy keepers", but others do.
… and kyle k. that is not abuse by any means some horses just don't need grain or supplements!
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January 11th, 2009 at 8:05 pm
You can but its better for them to get the nutrients from everything else. I think you really should give them more than just hay. I usually give mine bran and oats.
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January 11th, 2009 at 8:22 pm
It fine, it depends a lot on his workout. What kind of riding do you do?
Pleasure (non-showing) fine
Jumping no
Eventing No
barrel racing no
dressage no
trail horse fine
reining no
racing no
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January 11th, 2009 at 9:08 pm
Hay is a very important part of your horses diet, but you need lots of vitamins and nutrition's in there diet to which includes
Fruit, vegetables, garlic, and herbs
These are included in horse food like Alfa A
)
If you do decide that you do not want do feed your horse, horse food anymore, buy a little bag of alfa a and feed him only a little amout for vitamins and nutrition ( it also saves money rather than buying a big bag of food!
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me
January 11th, 2009 at 9:28 pm
I feed only hay. Sometimes pellets when it is super windy.
******edit*******
My horses live in WY & they rope, cut & log that ranch JUST on Alfalfa. So the people who say no if you work your horse is WRONG!!!!!!
******edit*****
Bravo Paingirl!!!
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Riding for 31yrs Breeding & Training for 20yrs
January 11th, 2009 at 10:05 pm
Yes you can. It is a good idea to have your hay analyzed for nutrient and mineral/vitamin content in case supplementation may be needed. But horses do fine on hay only, or hay and pasture grasses. In fact, they often do better since they are designed to eat forage, and adding grain to their diet can cause some to experience disorders like ulcers, or various colics and laminitis. Grain is broken down in the small intestine by enzymes and bacteria, and if all of it doesn't get digested and absorbed there, undigested starches pass to the hindgut. These activate the wrong bacteria, which release acids that kill off the good bacteria and cause metabolic disruption in the hind gut. This results in high blood sugar and excessive insulin production in blood, and is not good for the horse. Hay is fermented slowly in the hind gut and maintains steady levels of good digestive bacteria, and yields fatty acids that do not cause hormone fluctuations when they enter the bloodstream.
Some horses are hard to keep weight on, and in those cases additional bulk feed may be needed, like beet pulp, for example.
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RN horse owner
January 11th, 2009 at 10:29 pm
I never feed grain.. ever.
If they get it, its a treat or to give them meds or a supplement.
They get good quality hay and minerals and nothing more.
I get thumbed down for my thoughts on grain and overfeeding, so I will refrain lol..
But it can be done and its healthy and without ill effects to just feed solely hay.
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January 11th, 2009 at 10:55 pm
Mine are strictly hay only…..no grain. Have been forever.
Healthier for their digestion. Less chance of colic
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king p234
January 11th, 2009 at 11:21 pm
Some horses can be fed only hay if it is of high quality and get all the nutrition they need out of it. These are often called easy keepers. Even if fed only hay, they should still have a good coat, bright eyes, plenty of energy, and have ribs that can be felt but not seen.
Some horses need grain in order to stay in good weight and remain healthy.
Which kind of horse yours is, I cannot say.
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January 11th, 2009 at 11:58 pm
you shouldn't if you have enough grassy space you should let it eat grass too i mean i would
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i know a lot about horses
February 23rd, 2009 at 8:46 pm
It really depends on the horse it’s self. My horse Mango only gets one leaf of hay per feeding and she is fat. Mango is also a barrel horse who competes all year round. Mango actually gets hyper on grain no matter how light the grain is and is better off without it. But Mango is also turned out all the time. I recommend that if you decide to only feed hay allow more pasture time.
May 16th, 2009 at 9:19 am
We give free choice, round bale, quality, hay only. We also give free choice salt/mineral blocks and grass balancer for vitamins. Our horses are in excellent shape, very healthy and shiny. Personally I try to stay away from processed feeds.