Hay testing? Soaking?

[petit fromage]

My old IR horse is struggling with laminitis. I would like to have my hay tested. Can anyone tell me where to have this done and about how much it would cost? Also, if you have had your hay tested, did the test results help you in making feeding decisions?

I am also considering starting to soak his hay....but how do you soak hay in the winter?

[BuddyRoo]

You really only need to soak for about 30 minutes or so. I found that this could be done pretty easily by putting hay in a hay bag and setting into a larger tub of water. If you're concerned about freezing, do it in the house or get another tank w/ heater to use for this purpose.

That said, you do have to dump the water after each use.

Have you checked out Katy Watts' site? www.safergrass.org?

Check that out. You can normally send hay to your local ag extension for testing. There are other options as well though.

[cdalt]

Google Equi-Analytical I have sent hay samples to them a couple of times for my IR pony (not YET foundered and I'm trying to keep it that way!!!). The first time I got my ag extension agent to come out ( he was very nice but it took 3 or 4 weeks to get him here since he had to wait to borrow a coring tool from an agent in a neighboring, more rural county). Scheduling the visit was difficult and I decided that I would buy my own coring tool from equi-analytical to avoid the hassle since I knew it would need to be done every time I got in a new load of hay. I had to ask for help (from the Yahoo Cushings/IR group) to figure the amounts of mineral supplementation needed since it is not just a matter or supplying the minimum requirements - the ratio of one mineral to another has to be considered too. The analysis will tell you whether or not you need to soak your hay (needs to be under 10% NSC - my first load tested was only about 5 while the second just squeaked by at 9.9 - both bermuda hay from the same grower - different cuttings). If over 10% you will need to soak. Hope this helps some.