winter feed for horses

Question
QUESTION: We foster to horses from Habitat for Horses.  Gold Dust is a 5 year old mare about 1,000 lb., Calamity is a 2-1/2 year old filly about 800 lb.  We live just north of Dallas and have very mild winters.  How can I calculate how much hay to purchase to feed them this winter?  We have 10 acres available to them for forage and they receive pelleted feed, about 1 quart for the mare and three times that for the filly.  Thanks!

ANSWER: You can use the 1% body weight for a rule. They will need 1% of their body weight in hay to maintain condition and more if they are underweight. I assume you will be getting coastal hay? You will feed about 20# a day, a bale weighs 50-60#. So you will need a bale every 2-3 days.

The Texas hay this year leaves a lot to be desired. The high humidity that we have had has done a number on the quality available. The best thing you can do is look high and low to get the best quality you can. I found some great hay but I looked at three loads before I found it.

You are doing good.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thank you!  The horses were a bit underweight when we got them and we gave them Muenster complete with full time access to our pastures (about 10 acres).  We have cut back on the feed and are gradually changing to a 14 pct protein pellet.  The vet said we are a bit at risk of having fat horses.  (They look great and seem very happy!)

Questions: how do I know if hay is good or poor?  And how many days should I expect to feed hay as opposed to the pelleted stuff plus foraging?  We have the opportunity to purchase 21 bale units for $8 a bale including delivery fees, and it has been suggested that we need 84 bales.  Does this seem about right?  I know we cannot be exact in calculating, and I do not want to fall significantly short.  If we wind up with a lot more than we need, will it keep til the following year?  Again, whatever guidance you can give us would be appreciated.  (I was so pleased to see that you are an Aggie!)  --Christine

Answer
Good hay will have some color to it... a little bit to very bright green. Brown hay is not very good. It will be fine stemmed and a little "crispy," meaning that when you roll it between your fingers it will have some texture to it, not wilted. It will also have a pleasant smell. There are people trying to pass Tifton 85 off as coastal, don't fall for that. Make sure its coastal. Tifton is much coarser and has a huge variance in protein depending on maturity at harvesting. It can be as high in protein as alfalfa. No good.

Next years hay will start showing up in the spring so get enough to last about 7 months. It will keep as long as it in put up in a good barn. Sun will bleach the nutrients out of it and water will mold it. Put pallets down on the ground so it can't draw moisture out of the dirt.

This year it is important that the hay you buy is properly cured which is difficult because of the ridiculous humidity that we have suffered through. It just couldn't dry properly. If your hay guy wasn't on top of it then the hay would have been to wet when baled and will mold. CHECK FOR HEAT AND MOLD. Buy hay from a reputable source that has been doing it for a number of years. Avoid buying it from the fly by nighters that won't stand behind their product. See what kind of guarantee you can get.

I believe that the horses should have hay offered to them everyday. You may be able to give less weight when you have grass. It scares me to count on their pasture grass unless you have lush well managed pastures. I am in the Hill Country and we have little to no grass and don't consider grass a part of their diet because it would take 100 acres to support two horses here. You are in a better area and may get away with reducing hay if you have good pasture quality. I go to the Grasslands sometimes for Endurance. Is your pasture similar to that?

If you bought 84 bales and fed a bale every 2.5 days. You would run out of hay in a 210 days. That would be about right. You just can't ever tell when spring hay will be cut. It depends on the weather. Its better to have a little extra than to fall short and be desperate to find some in such a bad year. The rain made plenty of hay, but not good quality hay.

Hope I helped. Gig 'em.