#HorsesintheMorning

[thegreenhorseman]

Winter Hiatus

Hey fellow horse lovers!

The move has been so very slow going.  We are living at the house, but are still working on cleaning up and getting out of our apartment.

The holidays took away some time from moving activities.

I have been picking up a lot of overtime at work.

…And It’s freakin’ cold!

In upstate NY December is always chilly but we’ve been really lucky the past few years with mild…

[flintstonemedia]

‪I will be appearing tomorrow at 9:45am on #HorsesInTheMorning, just ONE of @horseradio's great shows. Catch me LIVE at HorsesInTheMorning.com!‬

[curvethecube]

#Repost @flintstonemedia: ‪I will be appearing tomorrow at 9:45am on #HorsesInTheMorning, just ONE of @horseradio's great shows. Catch me LIVE at HorsesInTheMorning.com!‬

[thegreenhorseman]

This is my favorite time of year.  The bugs are going away.  My face doesn’t hurt me.  It’s not too hot.

This is the time of year when I really love to spend time with mom.  I don’t mind working.  I don’t mind getting smoozles and cuddles.  I love my massages, my scratches, and pretty much everything.  Life is good.

Mom had last week off for vacation.  She was super busy getting stuff done (Vacation Means Getting Stuff Done) but she also made lots of extra time to hang out with me and the boys.

We have had some really great rides lately.  The most recent wasn’t really wonderful but we made it through.  I really am not a fan of evening riding, at least for the latest work session.  The lighting during sunset can sometimes bother me; we managed through it.  It was also a couple weeks since our last ride so I was pretty excited about getting out and going.  I LOVE to work!

Despite some of our arguments mom and I shaped up and became a good team….at least enough to get some good photos and video.

  Mom’s also really been on my case about finishing breakfast.  She complains that I’m a slow eater.  Should I remind her that I choked a few times last year?  I take as long as I want now on my meals.  I like to savor my food.  There is so much to enjoy.  The hay stretcher, the beet pulp, the supplements, alfalfa, flax seed. Zeno Bay and VaiVia both eat pretty much the same stuff but they are done long before me so mom separates us. When they are finished they come over and wait like vultures.  I don’t mind though.  We call it breakfast club and we discuss the plans for the day.

Mom even wets it down so it’s like cereal. She and I sometimes enjoy cereal together.

Either way I don’t mind the fact that she stands with me and grooms me or gives me scratches while I eat.  Morning scratches and cuddles are the absolute best!

It’s also beginning to get chilly at night.  Mom had our barnyard done by a pro and now it’s super nice and stays dry.  The other day mom saw rain in the forecast and let us finally go use the barn for the first time since.  The mats felt so nice and we happily weathered the storm and stayed dry all night long.

I’ve got to admit it.  I’m a mama’s boy.

But there’s nothing wrong with that right?

  The Blade Chronicles: Mama’s Boy and Proud of It This is my favorite time of year.  The bugs are going away.  My face doesn't hurt me. 

[thegreenhorseman]

Weekly Photo Challenge: Silence

Whether you’re a green horseman or a well seasoned equine veteran you’ll know how rare true silence is on a farm.

Geldings are loping around being goofy.  Mares are squealing at anything that looks at them sideways.  Hungry fat ponies bang their stalls for food.

People riding and talking to their equine mounts.

Barn chores, wheelbarrows, hay throwing, grain dumping.

On the day pictured above I…

[thegreenhorseman]

Hay is the staple feed for most domesticated horses.  A horse will eat 1.0-2.5% its weight per day, and most of that should be hay.

Hay comes in difference sizes, cuttings, varieties.  Square bales, small squares, round bales.  Timothy, orchard grass, ryegrass, brome, coastal, clover/legume, alfalfa, fescue, and the list goes on.

In New York we simply see “grass hay” or mixes.  My current hay provider gives me a mix…of what I’m not entirely sure but I do see clover and grass for sure.  At one point he told me there was alfalfa but to my dismay it appears to have given way to the hardier forages.

We can go on and on about hay but for starters lets talk simply about feeding it.

I purchase small bales which weigh about 35-40 pounds each.  The three amigos are given the hay “free choice” so they can eat around the clock as nature intended.  They never run out.

Hay isn’t cheap.  In upstate New York I seem to have it easier than the rest of the country.  Our small bales sell anywhere between 4-6 per bale…first cutting.  Our hay is also better quality than most on average.  Florida, for example, sees mostly lower quality hay and sells for $12 per bale (Floridians please correct me if I’m wrong but this is the trend I’ve heard of from the limited contacts I have).  Unfortunately our seasons are often short and we are lucky to see two cuttings, my current source only got one cutting in this year.  I will save the quality talk and cuttings explanation for future posts.

On average I go through 2-3 bales per day, on average I am spending $300 per month to feed the amigos hay alone (not including supplements and grain).  The biggest headache horse owners have is wasted hay.  There’s a deep pit in our hearts when we walk into the barn to see hay spread throughout, trampled, and defecated on.  Tell that to the horse though…he neither knows why you’re upset nor cares.

This wasting of hay has led to hundreds of “solutions.”  See for yourself; if you Google “feeding hay” you will be bombarded with products and websites dedicated to reducing hay waste.  We all face it and we all search for the magic bullet.

So what’s the right answer?  To each their own, really.  All of the options have benefits and drawbacks.  But here are a few feeding methods that I use.

Feeding On The Ground

Among the most natural and easiest methods of feeding hay.  Choose a spot and throw a few flakes down.  With the boys I would put down two or three piles.

PROS:

Easy

Fast

Feed anywhere

Natural, feeding at ground level simulates grazing, elongates the neck, and helps to stretch the back muscles.

CONS

Messy

Lots of Waste; horses won’t eat hay if it’s dirty.  They tend to spread it all around, trample it, and poop all over it.

Get it Off the Ground

The week we got our new ATV my neighbor came down with this old snowmobile trailer.  Though it was extremely kind and generous it sat in our driveway as we have no use for it.  Finally, as I watched the boys continue to trample their hay I had a light-bulb moment.  I hooked the trailer to the ATV and hauled it up the hill.  The horses enjoy the sun in the colder fall days so I left it out in the open.

PROS:

Easy

Fast

Feed anywhere: You can hook this up and move it to different locations so one area doesn’t get over trampled

Off the ground means that it won’t get trampled into the ground.  This makes it less likely to be wasted

Less waste: In theory if your horses don’t reject it

CONS

Wastes some: Even getting the hay off the ground the horses still rejected a bunch of hay.  They fluffed it up and left a massive amount laying in the trailer for days.

Out in the elements: I began by putting two bails out and since the horses rejected about half it was left out in the rain.  This makes them like it even less.

Wall Mounted Nets

There are many manufacturers that sell these.  I purchased these from Tough-1 through my Horse.com.  You can find them using my affiliate link below (Tractor Supply also carries them online).

If you’re not aware I am an affiliate for several companies.  Horse.com StatelineTack and my newest company is Tractor Supply.  I don’t push too often because I care more about your readership than the commissions. If you do shop at these retailers, though please consider following my links to help me earn a few bucks to spoil the amigos with quality treats.

PROS:

Off the ground

Reduces nearly all waste

You can change the net once the horses destroy the original

Slows the horse down to mimic the grazing rate of consumption; allows the horse to work on the hay for a longer period of time.  This is especially good for easy keepers that stay fat on air.

CONS

The metal bars don’t move as freely, can be annoying and difficult to load at times

Small opening means you must load only a few flakes at a time

A permanent location means the horses won’t move around much

Need a wall to mount to so you are limited to the barn

Not as natural: horses are evolved to reach down to graze, it’s better for their spinal, respiratory, and muscular health.  These hay nets require them to raise their heads and tilt them in unnatural movements.

The Standard Hay Net

My most used method of feeding continues to be my reliable hay nets.  I have about nine or ten in different sizes with different size openings that I rotate.

PROS:

Off the ground

Reduces nearly all waste

Slows the horse down to mimic the grazing rate of consumption; allows the horse to work on the hay for a longer period of time.  This is especially good for easy keepers that stay fat on air.

Natural, feeding at ground level simulates grazing, elongates the neck, and helps to stretch the back muscles.

Can be hung nearly anywhere.  I have used my barn, trees, and the corral panels.  They are vital for travel in trailers.

CONS

Takes time to load

Inexperienced help take time to learn how to efficiently load nets

Not as natural: horses are evolved to reach down to graze, it’s better for their spinal, respiratory, and muscular health.  These hay nets require them to raise their heads and tilt them in unnatural movements.

Must have a place to hang

Shod horses can get their shoes stuck if they paw

Hay Racks

The farm I used to board at has a hay rack in one of the fields.

PROS:

Off the ground

Easy

Minimizes Waste

CONS

Can be knocked over by horses or the wind (as in the photos below)

Metal and hard surfaces can damage the enamel on teeth

The elevated position and angle of the hay causes a very unnatural movement for the horse.

Other Alternatives

I told you there are numerous feeding options for hay and I wasn’t joking.  If you want to spend a thousand or more they even have hay huts that shelter the hay from the elements.  Horses simply stuck their heads in the hut to munch.  Some people build gazebo-like structures to protect the hay.

There are also hay baskets, and some people feed hay in a slow feed net laying in an empty trough.

These all work.

I’ve included a link to a few other neat options to explore.  I haven’t used them so I can’t provide any valuable testimony.

Hay Play: Hay Play is a plastic ball that you load with hay and horses can roll it around.  This provides the horses with exercise as the move and graze.  I live on a hilly property so I don’t know if this would work with my boys.  The physics of it also makes me skeptical whether the horses can access all of the hay or just the outer edges while it’s packed.  It looks like a pain to load at well.  Either way I love the concept and think with a few reworks it would be spectacular.

Porta-Grazer: The Porta-Grazer is essentially a plastic barrel that can be loaded with hay, the cover has grazing holes and moves down the barrel as hay disappears.  It appears to be specifically designed so that the cover doesn’t easily get pulled out by the horse.  It keeps the head down, encourages the horse to slow down and practice the grazing that nature intended.  I haven’t purchased this because it is expensive and really only allows one horse to use it at a time.  Want to buy it for me (I’m only joking I think)?

DIY Nets: DIY Nets offers a number of really great looking products.  Wall mounts, corner mounts, hay baskets and a number of creative combinations.  Among my favorites is the tarter basket with hay net attachment.  These are high quality products at high quality prices.  Perhaps one day I may try these.

Hay Chix: I do have a bit of personal experience with Hay Chix since my friend has a few of their corner feeders.  They work fantastically and hold up much better than the typical hay nets.  The materials are more forgiving than most as well.  I particularly love the corner feeder.  My friend had a large 2 bale net attached to the corner feeder and it was easy to load.  I can definitely recommend these products. 

Hay, Hay You! What’s New? Hay is the staple feed for most domesticated horses.  A horse will eat 1.0-2.5% its weight per day, and most of that should be hay.