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High quality haylage such as EuroBale will be the major source of
long fibre in the horse's daily diet and thus enough must
be fed to meet the 'roughage' or digestible fibre requirements
necessary to keep the gut moving properly. The minimum
amount of quality haylage necessary to fulfill this purpose would
be 12lbs per horse per day, split into at least two feeds,
with the largest amount offered at night. For example,
the horse may receive 4lbs after work and 8lbs at evening
stables.
However, it must be remembered that
quality haylage has a higher energy level than hay and this may
result in a decision to feed more than the minimum quantity
to some horses - especially those horses where more
corn is not desirable.
For example, a filly who runs up light,
and will not eat more than say, 10lbs concentrate, could
have quality haylage increased to 14 or even 16lbs, which would
give more energy for weight and work, but wouldn't give
her the 'hay belly' appearance normally
associated with increased hay intakes.
Similarly, a big backward colt being
brought on slowly, and thus on a low corn ration, could
have his quality haylage increased to keep his weight, but to
prevent him from getting above himself in his light work.
A third example may be a horse where
muscle problems occur on high corn rations. Deriving more
energy from increased intakes of highly digestible quality haylage
may allow the horse to be kept in work, but remain on
low corn rations.
Therefore, whilst there is a minimum
intake for all horses, the type of horse and the amount
of corn fed will influence how much quality haylage is fed.
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