# Wheat/oat/barley hay???



## Yogiwick (Sep 30, 2013)

I've never heard of that as hay... is it even horse hay or is it for cows? Doesn't sound ideal.

The problem with alfalfa is that the overall diet needs to be balanced, but aside from that alfalfa is excellent and will put weight on him.

I'd swap to alfalfa and get a good complete feed, then when his weight is up you can reevaluate.

I'm sure your vet will have some suggestions too.

Congrats, he's very cute


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## Smilie (Oct 4, 2010)

Oat hay is sometimes fed here to horses, and is known as green feed> Basically , it is just the entire oat plant cut and baled, before that grain head is mature
I don't feed it s it is too high in NSC and you can also risk nitrate poisoning
Yes, change to a hay , and alfalfa is nutrient dense hay, but again, if you have ahorse sensitive to sugar, not the best horse hay, thus I never feed straight alfalfa hay, but rather a mix, and my IR horse gets only a grass/timothy hay


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## loosie (Jun 19, 2008)

Hi, ditto to others. Cereal hay - & grain - is generally quite high in sugar - not great for horses. Wheat is also high in phosphorus & oaten in nitrates. Therefore while it *can* be OK, needs to be carefully considered as part of overall balanced nutrition. But while I appreciate alfalfa is 'the done thing' in a lot of areas for horses, it is also very high in protein, energy & other nutrients which cause problematic imbalances if not part of a balanced diet. Low sugar varieties of grass hay are best if you can get it, or a mix of grass & alfalfa. And of course, an *appropriate* nutritional supplement to balance whatever the basic diet too.

As an aside, as it's quite obvious your horse is landing toe first in that pic, I'd want to check that out & manage accordingly. That could well have to do with diet too.


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## jaydee (May 10, 2012)

Given that he looks quite ribby in that photo I'm wondering if they were feeding him oat/barley/wheat straw which has got very little food value at all and not oat/barley/wheat hay 
If he'd been fed on a high NSC forage in sufficient amounts then I'd be expecting to see a horse that was more overweight than underweight - unless there's some underlying health problems
It would also partly explain why he's becoming a lot more hyper since you've had him and gone in the totally opposite direction with his feed


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## Mandirp (Aug 13, 2016)

What type of hay do you feed or suggest? The vet is coming out tomorrow and I'd like to be prepared and knowledgeable so that we can come up with the best feed plan. Everyone around here just suggests alfalfa hay. However, I've been reading that alfalfa is a little too 'hot' for a light use trail horse. I live in central California. I've called around for Timothy hay and it's not available around here right now.


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## trailhorserider (Oct 13, 2009)

Mandirp said:


> What type of hay do you feed or suggest? The vet is coming out tomorrow and I'd like to be prepared and knowledgeable so that we can come up with the best feed plan. Everyone around here just suggests alfalfa hay. However, I've been reading that alfalfa is a little too 'hot' for a light use trail horse. I live in central California. I've called around for Timothy hay and it's not available around here right now.


I feed alfalfa and bermuda hay. I have to buy each type separately but feed both at each feeding. My guys are fat, so I only feed 1/3 to 1/2 flake of alfalfa twice a day with free choice bermuda hay. If I was trying to put weight on a horse, I would probably feed a full flake of alfalfa twice a day and free choice bermuda.

Since Arizona and California are right next door, I'm betting our hay situations are similar. About the only grass hay I can get reliably and affordably is bermuda. Everything else is either too expensive and/or not available all year round.


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## Avna (Jul 11, 2015)

If you live in central CA (like me) you should look for orchard grass hay. That's the standard horse hay around here among the nutritionally educated. I've never seen bermuda for sale. It is mainly grown in the south, I think. We get our hay mainly from Oregon and the Central Valley. 

Phoenix is 700 miles away. I am guessing you get hay from Texas.


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## Mandirp (Aug 13, 2016)

I do live in central Cali. I'm feeding 1/2 alfalfa and 1/2 orchard grass hay now per vets advice. 
Thank you all for your help!



Avna said:


> If you live in central CA (like me) you should look for orchard grass hay. That's the standard horse hay around here among the nutritionally educated. I've never seen bermuda for sale. It is mainly grown in the south, I think. We get our hay mainly from Oregon and the Central Valley.
> 
> Phoenix is 700 miles away. I am guessing you get hay from Texas.


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