Florida Horse Hay Sales and Delivery
And why do you choose that kind?
And if you could feed any type of hay, what would be your first choice?
My first choice is orchard/alfalfa. That said, during the drought last year, when hay was difficult to find, and expensive when it was found, I settled for a nice grass mix with a bit of clover in it. Horses did great on it with no issues. Sometimes ya gotta do what ya gotta do. I get hay with as little fescue as possible, and if I have pregnant mares, no fescue. Don’t want complications, and besides, fescue isn’t terribly palatable to them anyway. Now, for the whole round bale issue, I do occasionally feed round bales. If I’m going to be out of town for a few days, it’s easier for the caretaker if I just buy a round bale and put it out for them. My souce keeps them in a barn, so they’re not setting out getting rained on and moldy, and it’s always just a grass blend, so my horses have had no issues.
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25 Responses to What type of hay do you choose to feed your horse?
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Florida Horse Hay
There are different types of hay? I haven't heard that and I work at a stables lol. No one tells me anything!
So Round bale??
I bet I get thumbed down for this. I'm expecting at least 5. Come on voters don't let me down!
EDIT: After looking at the other answers, I think our horses get fed mixed grass. They all have hay in the boxes and a bale in the fields. Some have feeds.
EDIT: My stables is a riding school/livery yard with nearly 40 horses. They go through the round bales unbelievably quickly.
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Back in the day when I had horses I would feed them oat hay most of the time, it was good for them and was the cheapest. A time or two a week they would get a flake of alpha. When we had them out and rode them hard we gave them some rolled oats, alpha and molasses.
Of course every day they got carrots or apples.
And with all it still cost more to feed the dogs.
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I feed oaten hay because i am a breeder and when the mares are three months from foaling i then give her Lucien for the goodness it gives the mare.
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Mixed grass is what I like to give. I don’t like to feed them strait Bermuda hay. It is a fine steamed hay and can cause impaction and colic. Alfalfa can also cause some big problems and it’s really expensive.
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I feed meadow hay by choice. We grow our own at the yard I’m on
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When i do use hay It’s standard meadow hay.
However I usually feed haylage and we grow our own.
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Depends on the horse and his caloric needs and nutritional needs.
Usually timothy or T & A. Or orchard and alfalfa. Peanut hay, also.
What I DON'T feed are: Round bales (not good for horses, fine for cows). nor coastal (lots of reported cases of ileal impaction related to feeding coastal – though I do know people who've fed it for years with no problem. Not worth the risk for me)
PS I'm in the USA, and don't feel bad about not knowing about hay types, we all started out knowing nothing. Just start now educating yourself about horsecare, if it's your chosen profession or passion. ( And I hardly EVER do thumbs down!)
[Hey, Lambo! Thanks for the info on round bales which, apparently are working well for you guys up in VT. See - - We're always learning. . BTW, I love Welsh ponies, was my first equid many yrs ago, and hope to own one again someday.]
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Lucerne hay!
oat hay
meadow hay
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Lecerne hay! Always have and always will.
Sorry i kept spelling lecerne wrong…My Bad!
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It depends on the horse and nutritional needs. Everyone gets mixed grass hay but our broodmares get moistened alfalfa pellets in a bucket every day (It's cheaper than hay).
We use round bales in the winter. Another poster said not to feed them round bales because they aren't safe for horses but that is only partially true. One of the biggest concerns is mold and those wrapped bales often have mold growing in them. During a typical Vermont winter, we can safely feed never wrapped but carefully stored round bales. It is well below the temperature in which mold can grow on the hay. So feeding round bales isn't impossible but needs to be managed based on several factors.
[Waves to Azeri... I loved that horse. She kicked butt!]
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Breeder of Welsh Hunter Ponies
My first choice is orchard/alfalfa. That said, during the drought last year, when hay was difficult to find, and expensive when it was found, I settled for a nice grass mix with a bit of clover in it. Horses did great on it with no issues. Sometimes ya gotta do what ya gotta do. I get hay with as little fescue as possible, and if I have pregnant mares, no fescue. Don’t want complications, and besides, fescue isn’t terribly palatable to them anyway. Now, for the whole round bale issue, I do occasionally feed round bales. If I’m going to be out of town for a few days, it’s easier for the caretaker if I just buy a round bale and put it out for them. My souce keeps them in a barn, so they’re not setting out getting rained on and moldy, and it’s always just a grass blend, so my horses have had no issues.
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My girl gets Timothy Hay and grass mix. Square bales. This is what I like and the results for my horses.
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We had a lot of breeding horses and many of them we rode as well. We usually fed Alfalfa/Grass mix hay. In the winter we fed mostly round bales that had been stored in a barn with a bale ring to avoid waste. For pregnant mares, breeding stallions, and any horses being ridden regularly or in training we gave a pelleted feed in addition to the hay. We always kept sweet feet for the babies to start with.
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Timothy/Alfalfa Hay has given us the best results. Then again, it depends on the horse. Some horses don’t diges alfalfa very well.
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TB Owner/Hunt Seat Competitor
I feed my horse Coastal Bermuda hay. Why? Because it is very plentiful around my area and the farmer I purchase my hay from had his hay tested for nutrition content and got very high marks. My first choice is Coastal Bermuda.
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For most of my life we had three types of feed available to feed in the Bay Area and in the LA Area, Alfalfa, Alfalfa and Coastal Hay MIX and Oat hay. Most feed stores only sold alfalfa and oat. Within the past decade I’ve noticed a change to carrying other types (Timothy, grass, etc).
Most of the old bales were 3 wire and weighed over 100 LBS. (I REALLY do miss baling wire!). I still don’t like baling twine.
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Over 40 years of training horses, riders and making/repairing saddles and tack. HPTS!!!
My answer is ****100%***** what Azeri said. T/A, O/A, peanut hay, NEVER round bales or coastal.
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My TB gets free choice coastal (roundbale). I know some people hate it but it works for him. I use to have him on T/A but that didn’t go over real well. Won’t touch the stuff with a 10 foot pole now. I have seen horses do fine on it but never again for that horse. My QH gets the costal as well but in square bale form. He was also on T/A for awhile and did OK but costal and grass pasture works just fine for him
Both eat costal (square bales) when traveling.
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This depends on your horses’ nutritional needs:
1st Cutting hay is usually good for horses who get time to graze on good grass and are fed good grain and supplements. First cutting is usually a mix of grasses , mostly timothy grass, and is cut early in the season, so it is less rich and more of an all-around roughage.
2nd Cutting Hay is richer, dense, and contains grasses like clover and alfalfa. This hay is great in the fall and winter months when horses dont get many nutrients from grazing, or dont get to graze at all. If your horses are fed lots of grain, just watch them carefully if feeding 2nd cut b/c this can sometiem be too rich and cause laminitis/founder problems. We usually give 1/2 1st and 1/2 2nd cut throught the winter to our grained horses.
I would avoid round bales if you dont have enough horses to finish it within a couple days, as they can get moldy from weather and that could colic, and kill, your horses. Round bales are usually about 7-10 square bales, but this can vary.
For horses with grazing/teeth problems, you can also consider alfalfa cubes and hay pellets. Our Senior horses with missing teeth get these because they are easier to chew than long pieces of hay and still give them the roughage they need.
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i usually feed her grass hay…… but thats because shes allergic to alfalfa
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The hay I feed depends on the current price, what type of horse, and what I am using the horse for. Also I take into consideration, grain prices.
If hay prices are high I feed fescue to everything but pregnant mares. Then I grain with a good quality grain. My stud (a show horse gets quite a bit of 16% protein grain).
When Hay prices are reasonable I will feed prairie grass or brome to the field horses. To my pregnant mares I try to feed a grass alfalfa mix as that will help them produce far more milk than grass hay alone. My stud gets a bale of cheap hay to eat at his leisure with the addition of alfalfa grass mix in a measured amount and grain.
If you want to see my stud and mares, here they are….
http://www.justwrightfarm.com/
BTW on areas with a lot of sedimentary rock like limestone (Missouri is one, as is much of the southeastern US) orchard grass is an excellent source of Magnesium. Thus a better choice than timothy. In areas with sufficient amounts of Magnesium in the soil (places on granite rock or till or loess deposits) Timothy is a better choice. (just a little FYI)
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Alfalfa. It is a high quality feed. Alfalfa hay is an excellent source of energy, protein, calcium and some other nutrients for horses. My horses look great on it. Alfalfa hay should be the foundation of feeding young growing horses. Nutrient deficiencies & imbalances can result in developmental orthopedic diseases. When feeding weanlings, protein requirements are more easily met when feeding alfalfa. Alfalfa is a high quality, highly digestible feed for horses, but so many myths surround its use that many of the nation’s horse owners either underutilize or misuse it. Lactating mares and horses with strenuous physical activities have much higher requirements than horses used for light recreational riding. So it covers all my horses needs. We have never had any problems with it. My grandpa has been feeding it for years, as do I.
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Riding for 31yrs Training for 20yrs.
i only give her alfalfa hay.
she loves it, and she is healthy eating it.
when we move, im switching her food to alfalfa hay, carrots, apples, sugar cubes, grain, and grass. lol
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Here in Georgia I feed timothy hay now along with alfalfa pellets. The hay here just sucks.
Back in South Dakota…I fed prairie grass that we cut on our own 80 acres…my horses did awesome on that stuff. I’d going back to that if I could.
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I feed Orchard Grass hay, and always have. When I was a kid we got it for free from across the street when my dad helped them bale it. I’ve been buying it for many years now. I like it because it’s just as good as the more popular Timothy hay, but usually cheaper. For the past 8-10 years, I have used the same supplier who bales hay with consistently good quality and a decent price, so I’m sticking with him.
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