Helen Askey Equine Sports Therapy

Excited to be accepted and pass exam to become an FEI Permitted Equine Therapist 😁🙌
Looking forward to going to some big shows!

Equine Sports Massage Association
Animal Health Professions Register - AHPR

Worried your soaked hay is going off in this heat?

It's one of the most common questions I'm being asked right now.

Many owners soak hay to help manage weight whilst maintaining a good forage intake, and/or to reduce sugar, fructan (WSC) & calorie intake for those affected by insulin dysregulation/EMS/laminitis, or PSSM1.

But when temperatures soar, longer soaking times can become difficult because the hay may start to go 'off' (spoil).

So how do you know if soaked hay has gone "off"?
❌ It develops an unpleasant, slightly sickly smell
❌ Horses generally become less keen to eat it

If that's happening, don't keep soaking for the sake of hitting a target number of hours.

Instead:
✅ Use warmer water to your advantage. Fill your soaking container and leave it in the sun before soaking. Hay loses more WSC in warm water
✅ Soak for as long as you can whilst keeping the hay fresh and palatable. In a heatwave, that might only be 1-2 hours
✅ Then adjust the rest of the diet to compensate for the extra calories (and potentially, WSC) that may remain in the hay. This could mean reducing grass intake or introducing straw to replace some hay (safely and appropriately).

One thing that many owners don't realise is that we don't only long-soak hay to reduce WSC (sugar and fructan).

In practice, longer soaking reduces calories too (possibly by an effect on fibre although it's not known exactly how) which is why many horses lose weight more effectively on long-soaked hay than short-soaked hay.

And please don't forget hygiene:
✔️ Fresh water for every soak
✔️ Hose out soaking vessels after each soak
✔️ Scrub them regularly, to avoid slime build up
✔️ Feed as soon as possible after draining
🚫 Never soak mouldy or poor-quality hay (this should not be used for feeding horses anyway)

If all the conflicting feeding advice online is leaving your head spinning, you're not alone.

Horse nutrition can seem far more complicated than it needs to be... comment 'confidence' if you want to find out how you can leave nutrition confusion behind!

Are you soaking hay during this heatwave? Have you adjusted the soaking time?

Let me know in the comments.
🐴🍏

It’s amazing 🙌