Hay is the second most herbal food near dried grass, which they could locate after a warm and dry summer. It is much less nutritious than fresh grass, but exact fine hay is a useful opportunity for insufficient sparkling grass. A huge range of poisonous weeds can be determined in a few pastures. Depending on the plant eaten and the amount, the result can be minor to deadly. Some plant life can also cause harm to the skin or hooves if the horse rolls or walks on them. Consequently, before placing your horse right into a pasture, an informed man or woman must check the field for poisonous weeds. As a few weeks are visible, particularly in spring and others specifically in the summertime, a thorough stroll through the area at least two times a year to test for suspicious flowers is handy.

One faces identical problems with poisonous vegetation with hay if the grass is made from a pasture with toxic weeds. In truth, the state of affairs with grass is probably a greater risk, given that horses will instinctively avoid ingesting the poisonous vegetation if encountered in a pasture. Still, while mixed in with hay and dried, the horses cannot pick out and keep away from them because they have placed their exceptional smell and look. Consequently, one must take special care that one uses hay best from a secure pasture or hay.

This is sourced from a trustworthy source. The different principal risk with grass is that grass overly rich in carbohydrates (e.g., G. Spring grass) or nitrates (e.g., G. Fertilised subject) can cause laminitis or founder. See the preceding hyperlink for greater facts on how to avoid this. Excessively wealthy hay can also have equal danger, but because hay is made at a time of year when the grass is certainly less rich, that is less likely. Another consideration is the niceness of the hay. It can contain harmful mold or fungus if it has no longer been nicely dried earlier than being cut or has gotten moist before or after bailing or stored in plastic luggage.

Any bales that have mold or fungus must be thrown out in place of use. Hay can also be dusty, ranging from barely dusty to very dusty. It relies on the soil and climate situations when it becomes made and how it changed into reducing/became/baled. Very dusty hay must now not be used as it may cause respiration issues in horses. Slightly dusty grass is fine, except for horses that are touchy to dirt. One can soak hay in water to get rid of the dust; however, in this situation, one wishes to ease out uneaten hay each day to forestall the moist grass from going off. A gain of commercial feeds over grass is that, in preferred, they’re unlikely to have dirt, mildew, or fungus (except they were allowed to get moist due to fallacious storage).