Henderson County Horse Committee
Athens, Texas

One of the most important nutritional decisions a horseowner makes is what kind of forage to feed his horses. Lush high quality pasture would be the forage of choice by most horseowners; however, many horses are managed in stalls and dry lots and/or many owners don't have access to quality pastures for grazing. Hay is fed to the majority of these intensively managed horses. With hay season approaching, below are some guidelines that should help horseowners in purchasing hay.

Consider the classes of horses being fed to on your operation. Determine whether grass hay, alfalfa hay or possible both kinds of hay should be purchased. Grass hay with approximately 10-12% CP content, can be fed to all classes of horses, but milking mares and growing horses require from 13-16% CP in their total rations. In these situations, feeding a legume hay and a lower percent CP concentrate may be economically more advantageous than feeding grass hay and a higher percent CP concentrate.

Become a hay judge. Get the TAEX publication, "Hay Judging Guidelines (D1 079), from your local County Extension Agent. Study hay evaluation criteria. Attend your local county hay shows to become skilled at evaluating hays.

Purchase hay from knowledgeable hay growers that have a reputation for selling "horse hay". Names of these growers are available from your local County Extension Agent, dairymen or other professional horsemen. Hay produced by these growers will have been grown, fertilized, cured and baled under as optimum of conditions as possible. For example, these growers will use a moisture gauge to assure their hay is baled with less than 12% moisture. Some of these local hay growers will provide a "buyers guarantee" and will subsequently adjust the price of the hay if it does not test out as verbally guaranteed to test. These hay growers are keenly aware of the blister beetle problem in alfalfa hay and take every precaution to produce beetle free alfalfa.

Purchase hay in bulk quantities to get the best price. Buy an entire load or split a load with other horseowner(s). Leasing or building a hay storage facility is often economically advantageous to take advantage of bulk prices. Purchase by the ton rather than by the bale. Grass hay, weighing 55 lb. per bale, priced at $2.50 per bale, translates into $91./ton.

Purchase hay in season. This cuts costs as hay can be loaded directly onto trucks or trailers for direct selling to horseowners. Hay "doubled handled", which means it is stored then sold later out of season, is always 10-20% higher in cost. Remember that alfalfa baled before mid June and after mid August will have a lesser likelihood of containing blister beetles.

Order hay with the "right of refusal". Whether purchasing hay in the field or off the truck, break open a bale and examine the hay plants using the "MTLFC Test". M is maturity. Young highly digestible plants have short stems with no blooms or seed heads which indicate age. T is texture. Young plants have small pliable stems; old plants have stems that are larger and coarser. L is leafiness. Over half the energy and two thirds of the protein in plants is found in the leaves. Leaves indicate nutrient value... the more leaves the better. F is freedom from foreign material such as stubble, weeds, dirt, manure and mold. If hay doesn't smell fragrant and appetizing, don't buy it. C is color. Ideally hay should be bright green; however, color is the least important of the five test criteria. Don't buy hay unless it passes the "MTLFC Test" to your satisfaction.

Forage test your hay as soon as possible as this is the only sure method of knowing the hays' exact nutrient content. Your local County Extension Agent or a feed company tech representative can provide guidelines for hay testing.

Spend some time preparing for and buying hay. Quality hay improves horse performance, decreases digestive disorders and ultimately lowers feeding costs for horseowners.

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