Hay question

[Anonymous-0]

I have been advertising hay and have been asked if it is Good Horse Quality. What does this mean?
What makes it good or bad horse quality.

Thanks

 

[Anonymous-0]

if your talking about alfalfa,it needs to be green with out rrain stripes and baled with less than 15 percent moisture.

 

[Anonymous-0]

forgot to mention lots of leaves

 

[Anonymous-0]

If you can get around it don't sell to horse people they are more trouble than they are worth. Will take you to court every time their little pet gets sick whether its your fault or not. We sell only to cattle people a lot less trouble.
If you do sell to horse people make them sign a note that the hay is sold as is with no guarantee that it is good for their horse.
Walt

 

[Anonymous-0]

local auction barn used to have horse sales but
they quit as he thought to many horse people wanted to sue at drop of a hat and all he did was provide a place for the auction

 

[Anonymous-0]

In my opinion, horse quality means put up right with NO rain. Here where I live you could not sell enough square baled hay to cow people to make a $. They are looking for round bales which are cheaper and easier for them to feed. I have to square bale horse hay in order to make any money fooling with hay. It is by far not perfect mixed grass with some junk in it in the field. If you take hay like that and get it up dry with the right amount of moisture in the bale, with no uncured clobs to cause spots to mold, it makes good horse hay. Usually this takes tettering it twice to beat the rain. Horses like it and my customers like it. If it gets ANY rain, I roll it up and sell it for cow hay and take my losses. If I tried to sell rained on hay for horse hay, I would soon loose my customers.

 

[Anonymous-0]

Horses are more sensitive to mold in hay. It can cause breathing problems. So good horse hay should not be moldy.

 

[Anonymous-0]

Horse folks have earned a reputation (deserved or not...) of being very picky but not very knowledgeble of what their horse needs for proper nutrition.

Most hay sellers need the high $$$ these folks pay to feed their pets, but it comes with the price of having to supply what they want - not what is always right.

Horse hay is about the best quality there is - no rain, no mold, no dust. High protien. Most should be wanting mixed alfalfa/grass or just good grass - but some insist on pure alfalfa for their pet.

Rabbit quality alfalfa is beeter yet I guess, real high protien, needs to be cut immature really? I think.

I raise cattle, they seem to prefer the cornstalks over the alfalfa, so I don't do so good on quality issues myself.

--->Paul

 

[Anonymous-0]

Horse people are nothing but white trash with money.

 

[Anonymous-0]

I normally only sell to horse clients, what a headache. I'm thinking
about getting some cattle to eat hay that gets returned or is
unsellable.

 

[Anonymous-0]

I agree with everything you said except we feed grass hay, medium quality at best. Horses do best if they're eating a fairly high quantity of roughage, so they don't colic. We've raised horses for 35 years, and the only time we've had trouble with colic was feeding alfalfa. Give me some prairie grass anytime. Just no mold or mustiness, please.

 

[Anonymous-0]

So why don't you elaborate more as to what makes em white trash with money, I'd really be interested in hearing about that, and don't be shy now, come on, tell us why that is ......

 

[Anonymous-0]

Thanks for the replys. The hay I have is clean from what I have just read here. It was dry when baled and no rainon it. It is fescue with some weeds and that is provided in the add I run so no surprises. Thanks for the help.

 

[Anonymous-0]

I won't touch that white trash comment,but some are a$$holes for sure. Had a neighbor who moved here from God knows where,bought some horses and starved them to the point that they ate the board fence. He wanted to buy a couple of round bales from me. I had some outside and some in the barn,but to be a nice guy I got two out of the barn for him. I stack them on end and one was the bottom bale.When I got it to his trailer,the useless shmuck had the balls to say "can you get me a different one,that one has dirt on it"!!! That was several years ago and I still have an uncontrolable urge to punch the jacka$$ everytime I see him.

 

[Anonymous-0]

Devin break a bale open and look for white, black or gray mold. Also wet spots in the middle that can cause trouble if none then sell it but be sure to tell them that its their duty to check each bale that they open and look for mold. Its impossible to tell which bale has it or not without breaking all of them apart. Sometimes I think we should just sell them loose hay.
Also spend the big bucks and get a moisture gage about $200 but worth it if you want to sell to horse people.
Remember most are city folks moved out to the country and are on a big learning curve about the difference between city life and country.
Walt

 

[Anonymous-0]

Just reading the good replies below, but I wonder if horse hay needs to be cut with no crimper for the blister beetles? I always figured that into horse hay. Probably depends on the part of the country you live in. Bob

 

[Anonymous-0]

Thanks ever so. We're also your customers, for better or for worse.