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| Horses naturally eat ALL DAY in the grass pasture. If they get more than a flake from a small square alfalfa bale they bloat and unless they are working hard or racing they don't need all the good of alfalfa. When the owners ration the hay by the flake the horse's belly feels empty and they will eat anything, including the barn. Sometimes the splinters of barn posts cause perforations and kill the horses.
Alfalfa is just too good for hobby horses, and they should NOT be fed it. Timothy is fine, they eat all the want and don't bloat. But if timothy cost the same as alfalfa the horse owners feel the pain of buying more bales.
In the 90s I raised and sold alfalfa because I wanted the nitrogen for following corn crops. I sold most of it to hobby horse owners, but didn't always get paid so I quit selling small squares and then quit selling big rounds and quit raising alfalfa. Those buyers were very picky about any sign of dust thinking it was mold even if it was really soil from the wheel rake. I visited barns of some buyers and the wood stalls and inside fences were gnawed by the horses every time.
Gerald J. | |
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Timothy Hay - Why is it Preferred????
