Autumn is the season many of us start planning for the winter ahead and stocking up on the essentials that we may not have needed through the summer, such as bedding and hay.
2025 has been a particularly challenging year for farmers and many of us are aware there is likely to be a hay shortage as yields have been markedly down due to the prolonged hot and dry summer.
The hay that has been made this year also appears quite variable in nutritional value - when there is extreme weather, plants can respond in quite extreme ways! Farmers may not have been able to cut in their usual window either due to lack of growth so nutrient levels may vary widely from what they typically produce in “normal” years.
Whilst some hay samples we have analysed so far have been very pleasing, some have been particularly low in protein. A vital nutrient that does a lot more than just build muscle; it also supports general health, organ function, hoof integrity and nourishes the gut microbes. Whilst low protein forage might cause visible weight or muscle loss in poorer doing and working horses, good doers may appear to do fine on this forage from a condition perspective but may appear bloated or become gassy. This historically termed “hay belly” is often linked to feeding very high fibre but low protein and low energy hay that lacks useful nutrition for the hindgut microbes – the trillions of bacteria, fungi and archaea responsible for fibre breakdown, immune response and vitamin synthesis – that rely on protein for their own health and nourishment just as our horses do.
Topping up protein in the feed bowl is best done with forages as the protein quality, judged by its amino acid content, is better in forages compared to cereals but better still in the legume forages sainfoin and lucerne.
The typically low sugar levels in lucerne make this a particularly useful forage type for good doing or even metabolic horses and ponies that need a high protein feed to supplement low protein forage. Make use of Organic Lucie Stalks or Lucie Fibre Cubes for really very good doers and LucieChop or Lucie Nuts for those dropping muscle or who are also on restricted grazing and not getting protein from grass intake either.
Whilst we can assume a lot about our hay based on grass type, when it was cut and what has been happening in general, we can never know for sure just by looking at it. The only way to have this certainty in what we are feeding our horses is to have the forage analysed and nutrient analysis of hay and haylage is a service we are pleased to offer here at Simple System along with free and bespoke interpretation of the results.
Click here to learn more about our forage analysis options.