MAKING THE BEST OF HAY SHORTAGES IN HORSE FEEDING

Weather conditions across Texas have resulted in some areas of the state experiencing a shortage of good quality, horse hay. In many places, the anticipated fall cuttings in September or October never came about. As a result, hay has been in great demand and often at a higher price than normal. For horse owners who may have gotten caught by this shortage, there are several things that can be done to get along until the first cuttings of 1994 become available.

First of all, make the hay that is available go further by feeding the minimum amount needed to discourage bad habits such as wood chewing. In most cases, this minimum amount is about .75% of horse body weight daily (7.5 lbs for a 1,000 pound horse). Even though it is a little more work to weigh the hay, this can be a big help in stretching your hay supply without compromising the health of the horse!

Round bales may be available when square bales are hard to find. If the hay is high quality and free of mold, these big round bales can be a good supply of roughage. They can be placed 'in a paddock or corral for free choice utilization by horses. If the outer layer of hay is weathered, it can be stripped away and discarded, giving horses access to the clean, fresh hay inside the round bale. For horses in confinement, some owners may want to purchase a round bale and have it unloaded under roof where daily allotments can be pulled off and fed to horses individually.

For some horseowners, hay shortage problems can be solved by utilizing small grain pastures as a grazing source. Horses characteristically do well on winter wheat, oats or rye-grass grazing and can help satisfy their roughage needs with 4 or more hours of grazing each day.

In situations where owners have no grazing and need to cut daily hay intake to below .75% of horse body weight, there are a couple of ways to get additional fiber to a horse. Processed roughage in the form of cubes can be fed and will meet the majority of daily nutrient requirements for mature, nonwork-Ing horses. Some cubes also contain additional energy from sources such as corn plant and can be fed by themselves to performance horses and broodmares. Furthermore, if a horse happens to eat grain feeds too quickly, cubes can be mixed in with the grain and may help slow down a horse's rate of feed consumption.

There are some horseowners who currently have absolutely no long stem hay or grazing for their horses. In such cases, it may be wise to consider a complete feed that is designed to be fed without any hay at all. These feeds are manufactured by some companies in Texas and contain large amounts of fiber. Some are also offered in extruded form which will typically result in slowing the rate of intake by horses.

Even though hay might be in short supply and high demand in certain places, these are some of the ways horse owners can successfully manage horses until the hay situation improves. When the first cuttings of 1994 are baled in late April or May, consider selecting a good supply of high quality, first cutting hay. Horseowners often shy away from first cuttings because the hay can contain some weeds and may not be quite as clean as mid-summer hay. However, if these first cuttings are properly cured and free of mold, they will almost always be significantly higher in nutrient content than mid-summer hay.

Approximately 48% of Texas horseowners keep their horses on small acreage and many just don't ci

have fa ities for storing large amounts of hay. However, some hay producers do have storage facilities and may agree to sell a hundred or more bales with the agreement to keep the hay until a horseowner needs it. Right now is a good time to start thinking about top quality horse hay and to check out some of these possibilities. This may help owners save money and enjoy horses more with fewer problems and worries in 1994.