The foundation of a laminitis-prone horse's diet is conserved fodder, such as hay and haylage, as they typically spend longer periods in stables or areas without grass. People frequently choose bucket feed first when thinking about food for horses and ponies prone to laminitis. However, because it makes up such a sizable portion of the diet, it is equally crucial to make sure the forage is suitable.
What is the nutritional content of grass hay?
To maximise yields, the grass is often allowed to mature completely before being harvested into hay. This means that compared to when it was young, it has a considerably higher proportion of indigestible material and is higher in non-fibre.
When grass photosynthesises, it creates sugar and stores any extra that it doesn't need for growth. A variety of sugars, including those in simple forms like monosaccharides and disaccharides as well as storage forms with longer chain lengths like fructan, are present in grass hay. All of these sugars are included in the study of water-soluble carbohydrates (WSC). WSC concentrations in hay can normally vary from 10 to 35 per cent.
Why should we soak hay?
- Reduce dustiness - One reason is to help reduce the dustiness of the hay which will help prevent respiratory issues.
- Reduce WSC - Another reason we soak hay is to reduce the WSC content to improve its suitability for laminitis-prone horses and ponies.
Soaking Times
When soaking hay for your horse or pony, timing can be an important factor. If you are soaking hay to reduce the dustiness, you may soak for 10 - 20 minutes with some groups advising up to an hour. Hay should not be allowed to dry out before feeding, so once the hay has drained it should be given to the horse.
If you are feeding a laminitis-prone horse, your objective will be reducing the sugar content. There are several factors to consider, not just timing. The water you use will have a huge influence. If you use lots of warm water, it is suggested that around two hours will help reduce sugar levels without losing too much dry matter from the hay, but rainwater can be an alternative.
Soaking hay for long periods causes an increase in nutrient losses, meaning your horse then has to consume more to ensure they receive sufficient fibre intake. In warmer conditions, soaking hay for more than two hours is likely to result in the hay starting to ferment and this is undesirable for feeding to horses.
So, should we be feeding Hay or haylage?
The answer to this is not simple.
According to the current recommendations, hay or haylage with less than 10% non-structural carbohydrates (NSC), which is the total of water-soluble carbohydrates and starch fed together on a dry matter basis, is the ideal hay or haylage for laminitics.
It is impossible to anticipate how much NSC a forage will contain because it varies greatly depending on the species of grasses, age at harvest, and environmental factors both during growth and harvest. Therefore, the essential advice when buying a forage is to request an analysis or, if one is not available, have the forage examined. The NSC of haylage can be lower than hay if it is produced correctly, although this isn't always the case.
Read more: What should we be feeding a laminitis prone horse?
Consider a forage replacer
One of the best forage-based horse feeds for those with laminitis is a short-cut hay replacer, which can be used as an alternative to standard long-stemmed forages. This can be helpful if the forage's nutritional value is uncertain, there is a shortage of fodder, or the horse has trouble chewing long-stem fibres. One option is to feed a chaff-based forage such as Dengie Hi-Fi Lite. Hi-Fi Lite combines chopped alfalfa and straw with a little molasses coating and can partially replace the forage ration, up to 1kg per 100kg of your horse's body weight daily.
Read more: Do you know why we feed Alfalfa?
