Why Hay Matters More Than You Might Think

For most horses in the UK, hay or haylage makes up the bulk of the daily diet for at least half the year. It's not simply filler to keep them occupied between feeds — it is the foundation of their digestive and respiratory health. A horse is designed to trickle-feed forage for up to eighteen hours a day, and the quality of what goes into that steady stream affects everything from coat shine to hoof condition and temperament under saddle.

Getting hay right can feel daunting when you're standing in a barn full of bales, each one slightly different. But a few straightforward checks — smell, appearance, and knowing what your horse actually needs — will see you right through the winter.

Start With Your Nose and Hands

Before you worry about analysis sheets and protein percentages, trust your senses. A good bale of hay should smell sweet and grassy, like a freshly mown meadow on a warm day. If it smells musty, sour, or faintly of mould, walk away. That smell usually means damp got in during baling, and mouldy forage is one of the most common causes of coughing and nasal discharge in stabled horses.

Next, open a bale and look at it properly:

• Colour: A soft green or pale gold is ideal. Very bleached, straw-coloured hay has often been rained on and lost nutrients.
• Dust: Shake a slice in a shaft of sunlight. Some dust is normal, but a visible cloud suggests poor quality that could irritate airways.
• Texture: Stems should be soft and pliable, not brittle and stalky. Overly coarse hay is harder to chew and often less digestible.
• Seed heads: Early-cut hay will have fewer seed heads and finer stalks; late-cut hay is coarser and often lower in energy but higher in fibre.
• Weeds and mould: Look for black or grey patches, or unfamiliar plants. Ragwort is rarely found in well-managed hay but is worth checking for.

Matching Energy to Workload

One of the biggest mistakes owners make is feeding the same hay to every horse on the yard. A fizzy Thoroughbred in full competition work and a good-doing native pony at rest have completely different requirements, and forage is the simplest place to adjust them.

As a rough guide:

• Resting or lightly worked horses: Choose later-cut, stemmier hay — often called "roughage" hay. It's lower in sugar and calories but keeps the gut moving happily.
• Horses in moderate work: A mid-cut hay with a balance of soft leaf and structure suits most riding club and hacking horses well.
• Hard-working or poor-doing horses: Early-cut, leafy hay is higher in energy and protein, and is easier to eat for horses with poor appetites or dental issues.
• Laminitis-prone or EMS horses: Look for low-sugar, late-cut hay, ideally soaked for several hours before feeding to further reduce water-soluble carbohydrates.

If you're unsure which category your horse falls into, ask the yard owner or a nutritionist to help you assess body condition score and workload before committing to a large delivery.

Hay or Haylage?

Haylage has become increasingly popular, particularly for performance horses and those with dust sensitivities. Because it's wrapped while still slightly damp, it retains more moisture and tends to be less dusty than conventional hay. It's usually higher in energy, though, which suits some horses better than others.

The trade-off is that haylage must be used quickly once a bale is opened, as it can spoil within a few days in warm weather. Small bales are a sensible choice if you only have one or two horses. For good-doers, prone to weight gain, well-made hay remains hard to beat. Many owners find a compromise works well — hay for the easy keepers, haylage for the stabled competition horse with a sensitive respiratory system.

Storage and Feeding Tips

Even excellent hay deteriorates if it's stored badly. Keep bales off the floor on pallets, ideally in a dry, airy barn with decent ventilation. Stacking against a wall invites damp and mould, so leave a gap for air to circulate. Check stored bales regularly — a bale that heats up noticeably or develops a musty smell should be discarded rather than fed.

If your horse coughs when fed dry hay, try these practical fixes:

• Soak hay for twenty to thirty minutes in clean water before feeding, or steam it if you have the equipment.
• Feed from the floor rather than a high haynet, so the head is down and airways can drain naturally.
• Avoid shaking hay out in a closed barn — do it outside or in a well-ventilated area.
• Feed little and often rather than one huge overnight net, imitating natural grazing behaviour.

Buying from a reliable local supplier who can tell you when and where the hay was cut is worth more than any glossy label. Build a relationship, ask questions, and don't be afraid to reject a load that doesn't meet your standard. Your horse's health — and your vet bill — will thank you for it.

A Word on Weight and Water

Finally, don't overlook the simple things. Weigh your hay rather than guessing by the slice, particularly if you're managing a horse's waistline. A kitchen luggage scale and a haynet make this quick and surprisingly accurate. Always provide clean, unfrozen water alongside forage: a horse eating dry hay needs plenty to drink to keep the gut contents soft and moving, and reduced water intake is a common trigger for impaction colic in cold spells.

Get these details right and you'll have a calmer, healthier horse — and a much more peaceful winter. Good hay is, quite simply, the cheapest veterinary insurance you can buy.