15/07/2025
Extra Forage in Lean Times:
Are your fields bone dry and grass-less, and you're having to feed forage at a time of year that you least expected it?
But hay isn't cheap and hayledge less so, especially when large bales go mouldy in the heat once opened, plus if you have a horse prone to chubbiness the last thing you want is them stuffing their face with high quality forage 24/7.
If you are lucky enough to be able to soak your hay and feed adlib, that's wonderful, but for those of us that can't, adding straw into the daily forage is a good option.
In the Cape Province of South Africa where I grew up, summer is the dry lean period, grass turns brown and fields barren, so feeding summer forage is the norm, and most often straw is the go to forage; even race horses are fed a combination of oat straw and alfalfa (Lucerne).
Less expensive than hay, straw is also less tasty, so horses tend to pick at it over time rather than gorging.
As with all forage, good quality clean straw, not sprayed, is best; but if you are worried about a bit of dust, submerge it for 5 or 10 minutes in water.
I know that some people worry about impaction colic, but if your horse is drinking enough water, research shows that this isn't normally a problem.
Add salt or electrolytes to your horse's food if you are concerned about water intake, an advisable habit for hot weather anyway.
Also interestingly there is evidence to support that straw doesn't cause ulcers.
As with any change in diet it's important to add slowly, and aim not to feed more than 50% of your horse's forage in straw.
Stay cool, and happy horsing!
I would love to hear what supplemental forage you are feeding your horse?
13 May 2020
New study highlights benefits of straw feeding in winter
https://www.redwings.org.uk/news-and-features/straw-study
Straw as an Alternative to Grass Forage in HorsesโEffects on Post-Prandial Metabolic Profile, Energy Intake, Behaviour and Gastric Ulceration
by Anna Jansson,Patricia Harris,Sara Larsdotter Davey,Nanna Luthersson,Sveinn Ragnarsson andSara Ringmark
Animals 2021, 11(8), 2197; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11082197 - 24 Jul 2021
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 11543
https://www.mdpi.com/search?q=straw+and+ulcers+in+horses&journal=animals
