Forage and Forage Alternatives for Horses
Forage Basics
Good-quality forage, a horse's natural feed, is usually the most economical component of the total ration and should be chosen to meet as much of a horse's protein, energy and fiber needs as possible. Good-quality forages are free of weeds, poisonous plants, blister beetles, dust and mold, and they contain green, leafy plants with a high proportion of leaves to stems. Forages for horses should contain 8-16% protein and have digestible energy (DE) values of at least 850 Kcal per pound. A typical 1,000-pound horse should eat between 15 to 35 pounds of good-quality forage daily for proper digestive tract function.
Overweight and "easy keeper" horses are on the lower end of the requirements and need just a salt/vitamin/mineral product with the forage. Broodmares and elite performance horses are on the upper end and usually need about six pounds of a limited starch concentrate and possibly a high-quality fat supplement along with the forage.
Forage Types
Forage types include pasture, grass hay, legume hay and processed forage. Forages should be combined to provide the best program for each individual horse. Be sure to provide between 15 and 35 pounds of forage to each horse daily.
Pasture - Good pasture is the ideal forage for many horses. Horses on pasture move around and eat small amounts of grass continuously; the way nature intended for proper functioning of the digestive tract. However, pasture is not always available and doesn't supply enough nutrients for some horses. Pasture can be used to meet some or all of each horse's forage needs.
Grass Hay - Good-quality grass hay is the single feed with the best balance of protein, energy and fiber for horses. Choose grass hays that are bright green in color, free of dust and mold and cut in early stages of development. Allow horses between 1.5 and 3% of body weight (about 15 to 30 pounds) of good-quality grass hay per day.
Legume Hay - Alfalfa and clover are examples of legumes. They contain more protein, energy, calcium and vitamin A than grasses. The inclusion of some legumes (20-50%) in rations for growing and working horses and broodmares takes advantage of these additional nutrients. Legume hays should be clean and bright colored and cut at early to mid-bloom stage.
Processed Forages - Alfalfa and Timothy/alfalfa hay cubes and pellets provide consistent, good-quality partial or complete forage sources for horses. They come in dehydrated and sun-cured versions, and contain a higher leaf-to-stem ratio and are more concentrated in nutrients than most long-stemmed hays. Less waste of processed forages generally occurs. They are ideal when traveling and can be soaked for senior horses with dental problems.
Beware of Fructans
Fructans are recently identified, starch-like compounds that are not digestible in the foregut and act like corn starch, causing acidosis in the hind-gut which could possibly lead to laminitis in horses. Warm-season grasses in the southern half of the U.S. and legume forages do not contain fructans. Cool-season grasses in the northern half of the U.S. may contain dangerous amounts of fructans, especially in the spring and fall during periods of hot, sunny days and cool or cold nights. If grass hay is imported from the north, it should be tested for high sugar and fructan content and fed accordingly.
Pasture and Hay Alternatives
Under normal circumstances, pasture and hay are the preferred forages for horses. With prolonged extremely high temperatures and drought, pastures may not provide a source of forage. Then, as more hay is needed to make up for the loss of pasture forage, hay may become scarce. If hay is harvested from stressed grass, it may have higher than normal protein, fiber and sugar content. Soaking the hay for an hour in warm water before feeding can remove up to 50% of the sugars, making it safer for horses with a previous laminitis problem or those predisposed to laminitis due to obesity or specific breed or body type.
However, soaking also results in loss of some protein, minerals and vitamins from the hay. Hay grown on Western, irrigated land by professional growers may be available, but only in truckload quantities. Local dealers can often obtain hay in truckload quantities if a group of horse owners are willing to purchase it jointly.
Whenever possible, some long-stemmed hay should be provided to prevent boredom and the development of stable vices. However, hay alternatives may be used on a short-term basis until hay becomes more affordable and available. Hay alternatives include processed forages, such as hay cubes and pellets, and feeds with a high fiber content made with soybean hulls and/or beet pulp and with a feeding rate of about 1% of body weight. Soybean hulls and beet pulp have digestible energy similar to oats at about 1.3 Mcal per pound. Oat hulls and rice hulls can be used to increase the fiber content in pelleted feeds.
Clean wheat straw is not very palatable, but can be used as part of the ration to provide fiber. Oat hay can be used, but has a higher starch content than other hays due to the partially formed oats it contains. Oat straw, available after the oats are completely mature and harvested, is similar to wheat straw. Straw will be more palatable if combined with hay or other forage sources in a cube or pellet form or if molasses or other appetite stimulator are added.
Complete feeds, made for senior horses without normal tooth functioning or horses with respiratory issues or allergies, are another option. They should contain at least 16% fiber if used as a hay alternative. These feeds are usually available with varying energy content and quality of ingredients; so, choose the best one for your horses. The advantage of using these feeds is that they should be completely balanced for vitamins and minerals.
If you use them, make sure to use the recommended feeding rate to provide all of the vitamins and minerals. It is better to buy both hay and hay-replacers and combine them. A good program would consist of half high-digestible-fiber fortified feed and half as a combination of long-stemmed hay, hay cubes, and/or hay replacer pellets. Table 1 contains ADM Alliance Nutrition® horse feed options. Take a week to 10 days to transition the horses to the new feed(s) and total rations. Whenever it is necessary to feed less long-stemmed hay, if possible, you should divide the total ration into more meals so that there is less time between meals.
Forage Basics
Good-quality forage, a horse's natural feed, is usually the most economical component of the total ration and should be chosen to meet as much of a horse's protein, energy and fiber needs as possible. Good-quality forages are free of weeds, poisonous plants, blister beetles, dust and mold, and they contain green, leafy plants with a high proportion of leaves to stems. Forages for horses should contain 8-16% protein and have digestible energy (DE) values of at least 850 Kcal per pound. A typical 1,000-pound horse should eat between 15 to 35 pounds of good-quality forage daily for proper digestive tract function.
Overweight and "easy keeper" horses are on the lower end of the requirements and need just a salt/vitamin/mineral product with the forage. Broodmares and elite performance horses are on the upper end and usually need about six pounds of a limited starch concentrate and possibly a high-quality fat supplement along with the forage.
Forage Types
Forage types include pasture, grass hay, legume hay and processed forage. Forages should be combined to provide the best program for each individual horse. Be sure to provide between 15 and 35 pounds of forage to each horse daily.
Pasture - Good pasture is the ideal forage for many horses. Horses on pasture move around and eat small amounts of grass continuously; the way nature intended for proper functioning of the digestive tract. However, pasture is not always available and doesn't supply enough nutrients for some horses. Pasture can be used to meet some or all of each horse's forage needs.
Grass Hay - Good-quality grass hay is the single feed with the best balance of protein, energy and fiber for horses. Choose grass hays that are bright green in color, free of dust and mold and cut in early stages of development. Allow horses between 1.5 and 3% of body weight (about 15 to 30 pounds) of good-quality grass hay per day.
Legume Hay - Alfalfa and clover are examples of legumes. They contain more protein, energy, calcium and vitamin A than grasses. The inclusion of some legumes (20-50%) in rations for growing and working horses and broodmares takes advantage of these additional nutrients. Legume hays should be clean and bright colored and cut at early to mid-bloom stage.
Processed Forages - Alfalfa and Timothy/alfalfa hay cubes and pellets provide consistent, good-quality partial or complete forage sources for horses. They come in dehydrated and sun-cured versions, and contain a higher leaf-to-stem ratio and are more concentrated in nutrients than most long-stemmed hays. Less waste of processed forages generally occurs. They are ideal when traveling and can be soaked for senior horses with dental problems.
Beware of Fructans
Fructans are recently identified, starch-like compounds that are not digestible in the foregut and act like corn starch, causing acidosis in the hind-gut which could possibly lead to laminitis in horses. Warm-season grasses in the southern half of the U.S. and legume forages do not contain fructans. Cool-season grasses in the northern half of the U.S. may contain dangerous amounts of fructans, especially in the spring and fall during periods of hot, sunny days and cool or cold nights. If grass hay is imported from the north, it should be tested for high sugar and fructan content and fed accordingly.
Pasture and Hay Alternatives
Under normal circumstances, pasture and hay are the preferred forages for horses. With prolonged extremely high temperatures and drought, pastures may not provide a source of forage. Then, as more hay is needed to make up for the loss of pasture forage, hay may become scarce. If hay is harvested from stressed grass, it may have higher than normal protein, fiber and sugar content. Soaking the hay for an hour in warm water before feeding can remove up to 50% of the sugars, making it safer for horses with a previous laminitis problem or those predisposed to laminitis due to obesity or specific breed or body type.
However, soaking also results in loss of some protein, minerals and vitamins from the hay. Hay grown on Western, irrigated land by professional growers may be available, but only in truckload quantities. Local dealers can often obtain hay in truckload quantities if a group of horse owners are willing to purchase it jointly.
Whenever possible, some long-stemmed hay should be provided to prevent boredom and the development of stable vices. However, hay alternatives may be used on a short-term basis until hay becomes more affordable and available. Hay alternatives include processed forages, such as hay cubes and pellets, and feeds with a high fiber content made with soybean hulls and/or beet pulp and with a feeding rate of about 1% of body weight. Soybean hulls and beet pulp have digestible energy similar to oats at about 1.3 Mcal per pound. Oat hulls and rice hulls can be used to increase the fiber content in pelleted feeds.
Clean wheat straw is not very palatable, but can be used as part of the ration to provide fiber. Oat hay can be used, but has a higher starch content than other hays due to the partially formed oats it contains. Oat straw, available after the oats are completely mature and harvested, is similar to wheat straw. Straw will be more palatable if combined with hay or other forage sources in a cube or pellet form or if molasses or other appetite stimulator are added.
Complete feeds, made for senior horses without normal tooth functioning or horses with respiratory issues or allergies, are another option. They should contain at least 16% fiber if used as a hay alternative. These feeds are usually available with varying energy content and quality of ingredients; so, choose the best one for your horses. The advantage of using these feeds is that they should be completely balanced for vitamins and minerals.
If you use them, make sure to use the recommended feeding rate to provide all of the vitamins and minerals. It is better to buy both hay and hay-replacers and combine them. A good program would consist of half high-digestible-fiber fortified feed and half as a combination of long-stemmed hay, hay cubes, and/or hay replacer pellets. Table 1 contains ADM Alliance Nutrition® horse feed options. Take a week to 10 days to transition the horses to the new feed(s) and total rations. Whenever it is necessary to feed less long-stemmed hay, if possible, you should divide the total ration into more meals so that there is less time between meals.
Summary
When long-stemmed hay is very expensive or not available, hay alternatives are an option as partial or complete hay replacements. First, based on the horse's life stage and usage, choose a feed with appropriate digestible energy content that is high in digestible fiber and with a feeding rate near 1% of the horse's body weight. Then combine any available good-quality hay with processed hay cubes and/or pellets and hay replacers made of digestible fibers, such as soybean hulls, beet pulp and ground alfalfa.
Clean fibers, such as oat hulls, rice hulls and straw, may also contribute to the total ration to provide bulk. Another option is to feed a complete feed containing feed and forage. When using a complete feed, make sure to use one with the correct energy content for your horse and with a crude fiber content of at least 16%. Feed the total ration in as many meals as possible in your management system.
When long-stemmed hay is very expensive or not available, hay alternatives are an option as partial or complete hay replacements. First, based on the horse's life stage and usage, choose a feed with appropriate digestible energy content that is high in digestible fiber and with a feeding rate near 1% of the horse's body weight. Then combine any available good-quality hay with processed hay cubes and/or pellets and hay replacers made of digestible fibers, such as soybean hulls, beet pulp and ground alfalfa.
Clean fibers, such as oat hulls, rice hulls and straw, may also contribute to the total ration to provide bulk. Another option is to feed a complete feed containing feed and forage. When using a complete feed, make sure to use one with the correct energy content for your horse and with a crude fiber content of at least 16%. Feed the total ration in as many meals as possible in your management system.
