Many people worry about the correct diet for their horse. Can my horse eat straw is often asked, especially by those with an overweight horse, or a horse that continually eats their bedding. This article looks at the reasons to feed straw.
If your horse is a good doer, and/or is overweight, then offering straw may be an option. As part of a forage diet straw can be used to increase the time that it takes your horse to finish his meal. Buying the right straw is important as straw that is intended for bedding purposes may have been sprayed with unpleasant chemicals.
Keep reading to find out how to safely feed straw to your horse, and which straw is most recommended.
Types Of Straw
It is worth bearing in mind that now all straw is equal. Some straw is better used as bedding, especially that straw which has been treated with chemicals. Apart from being less healthy for your horse, they are unlikely to eat treated straw.
- Wheat – Wheat straw is normally used for bedding as it is less palatable than other straw to horses.
- Barley – Barley straw is very palatable, and most horses are quite willing to eat barley hay when added to their diets. There is evidence that it is less likely to cause gut issues than oat straw.
- Oat – If horses were allowed a free choice, then oat straw would come out on top. However, anecdotally, oat straw is the most likely to cause issues with a horse’s digestive system.
Based on the above, Barley would be the preferred option, with wheat straw a close second.
Remember to always introduce a new foodstuff into your horse’s diet slowly so as not to cause illness and stomach upsets.
Why Should I Feed Straw To My Horse
Straw has a moisture content of around 6% & 7% and is a widely used substitute and additional feed to hay. Straw is not as palatable as hay to horses, but they will eat it, especially when on a restricted diet.
The good thing about straw is that it contains far fewer calories than hay, even some soaked hay. This means that it’s a way of increasing a horse’s forage intake without increasing their calorie intake.
If your horse often has an empty hay net in the morning, it may be that they need extra forage. Unfortunately, these are the horses that normally need their calorie intake restricting. It’s certainly the case with Fatty. She’s permanently hungry, but she also suffers from EMS so needs a very tight control on her diet to make sure that she remains at the correct weight.
Sometimes, even with the most stringent management, things don’t always go the way you’d like:
One of the other benefits of feeding straw is that your horse will spend more time eating, as they were developed to do. Keeping a horse on a restricted diet inevitably means that your horse will start looking around for things to do once their rations are completed. This may lead to unwanted vices and even broken fences as your hungry horse looks for the food they want.
How Much Straw Can I Feed
It is important to firstly say that you cannot replace all of your horse’s hay diet with a diet of straw. The general consensus if that it is safe to gradually replace between 30% and 50% of your horse’s hay quota with straw.
Remember that as with any alteration in diet, it should be done carefully and slowly. Try starting with feeding 0.5kg straw instead of 0.5kg hay, or even less if you know that your horse is prone to gastric upset. Gradually move up towards the 30% and see how your horse reacts.
Can I Soak Straw Along With The Hay
The choice is yours. You can fill separate nets with straw, or you can mix hay and straw and soak as you would normally. As straw contains 6%-7% moisture, and fewer calories, it isn’t necessary to soak it, but if soaking fits in with your schedule then there is no problem with soaking your straw along with the hay.
The time that you soak your hay or straw will also be important. Up to an hour will remove any dust and spores for a horse that has dust allergies, or compromised breathing. To remove the sugars the hay should be soaked for at least 2 hours.
If you soak your hay for longer, overnight for example; which is quite common, then you need to be aware that this could cause bacteria to increase which in turn can cause gastric upset in horses. This is especially true in warmer seasons where the soaked hay has a chance to warm in the water and create the perfect breeding ground for unpleasant microbes and bacteria.
Problems With Straw In Diet – gastric issues, impaction colic
There is often concerns within the horse community that feeding straw will lead to gastric and digestion problems, and possibly to impaction colic.
Ensure (as you normally would) that your horse always has fresh water available. If you check to make sure that sufficient water is being drunk, you should be able to rest assured that straw will not be the cause of any issues.
Conclusion
Feeding straw to overweight and good-doers is potentially one of the best things you can do for your horse or pony. Not only will it help them to maintain a healthy weight, but it will also help keep them occupied and living a more ‘normal’ life. Horses spend many hours each day grazing. Those on restricted diets often don’t have this luxury. Allowing them extra forage but without the calorific intake permits them to concentrate on eating rather than on developing bad habits and vices. This can only be of benefit to an owner.
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