Winter is at hand , and the hay makers are making hay while the sun shines. I should stock up on hay for my horses for the winter, and am finding out the hard way, like lots of folks with horses, that hay has shot up in price and shot down in quality. Horse owners have to use supplements with even top quality hay. When we were getting hay at 2 or 3 bucks a bale, we did not feel it was any kind of strain to pay for the supplements too. Now, when hay has hit exorbitant dollars per bale and appears to have hit the very bottom in quality, we feel the pressure. We are indignant that at a price this high the hay quality is so poor; we might have anticipated the best hay for the way that we are being scalped.

It appears that high quality hay has just about disappeared from the market. Farming methods nowadays involve repeated use of chemical-based herbicides and fertilizers through the year. While this improves harvest volumes, it does not do much for the purity of things.

Chemicals have an adverse effect on the natural bacteria and fungi that soil contains. In its natural state, arable soil is loaded in necessary minerals, other plant nutriments and water content. Better water means better grass and crop expansion, better expansion reduces chance of drought. Compost and other nature-based fertilizing agents sustain the healthy ecosystems of soil. They support natural cycles and keep soil continually recharged. In reality, chemical fertilizer is needless for fruitful soil that is moved regularly. Organic farming can be costly at the initial stages in comparison to chemicals-based farming, but pretty soon, it works out much less expensive as it maintains soil fertility and increases yield.

Each time we pay hay merchants top dollar for bottom hay, we are encouraging hay farmers to adhere to their chemical-based methods and ignore natural farming. What we should do is follow the example of cattlemen: they do not accept hay that has not been tested for quality and passed. This way, competition in the hay supply market will increase, and increased competition often means good news for the customer. If your hay purchases aren’t so bulky as to justify testing, you must encourage your provider to get tests conducted on hay in his stock. You could also ask the hay grower to get a test done. Reputed laboratories like Equi-Analytical do comprehensive hay tests for charges not exceeding $75. If your current hay provider acts hard, ditch him and get another one. Get all of your horse owning friends to crack down on bad quality hay. Success in your activities to get consistent top of the range hay can be done only if the effort is sustained by each purchaser. Success comes with determination.

So long as you are feeding your horses bad quality hay, you will need to supplement the hay with other feed of high nutritional value. Digestive enzymes and probiotics should represent part of your horses ‘ regular diet. I find performance horses thrive on Simplexity Health’s Essentials and horses for pleasure do well on APA, also from Simplexity Health. Probiotics like KLPP and Pro-Bi are also really useful for horse’s hind stomach digestion. They’re really desirable supplements to feed your horses when they don’t seem to be getting the best hay.

Horses are Heather Toms’ passion and she enjoys sharing her extensive knowledge through her 100’s of articles with other horse lovers… like all things about stable rugs