The NC 4-H Horse Program - A Tremendous Resource for our Youth!

By Eileen Coite
County Extension Director, Sampson County

There are many learning opportunities for NC youth in the horse industry, including local 4-H and Pony Clubs, FFA, and breed organizations.  Our NC 4-H Horse Program hosts many events, including clinics, contests, and shows.  4-H Horse Clubs are available in many counties.  There are five 4-H districts across the state too, with many events coming up in early 2019.  Take a look at our NC 4-H Horse Program website for a wealth of information on programs offered:
https://equinehusbandry.ces.ncsu.edu/equinehusbandry-nc-4-h-horse-program/
Read through the monthly newsletters to find out what's coming up and what's been going on.  Check out the calendar of events.  Scroll through the educational material and educational events offered.   Contact your county extension 4-H or livestock agent to find out about horse clubs in your county, and how to get involved today! 

Winter Water Consumption

Ensuring our horses continue to drink enough water during cold winter weather can be a tough task, but it is an important one.

Dehydration can lead to impaction colic due  to decreased water intake and is certainly a problem we'd all like to a void. An adult horse needs to drink between 5 and 10 gallons of water a day to stay adequately hydrated.  This time of year hay tends to be the primary source of forage so the water content is significantly less than what they get from fresh grasses, which make water intake even more important.  Here are a few tips to encourage increased consumption:

• Always have fresh, clean water available, breaking the ice regularly and removing any ""chunks"" (but be sure to move those chunks outside the pasture fence or stall to avoid bruising feet)
• Horses tend drink the majority of their water within 3 hours of feeding times, so plan to provide the thawed or warmed water within that period
• Warm the water - electric trough heaters properly managed and heated buckets work well if available, or simply pouring a bucket of warm water in once or twice a day will help
• Provide access to salt or mineral blocks to improve your horses' thirst
• Adding electrolytes directly to the feed can help stimulate water consumption
• Allow access to forage 24 hours a day to keep the fermentation process of digestion continually working
• Feeding a warm mash is a quick way to add a little hydration to the diet - start with a little water and increase it a bit every day until they are accustomed to the different texture of the wet feed

So, what is quality horse hay?

This is a question that a lot of people ask and are asked.  And the answer, as so many Extension answers are, is “It Depends”.  Of course, there are many factors that go into determining if the hay is “good.”  A previous article on the NC Horse Blog talked about how to understand a forage report.  You can find that entry here.  And that is certainly the place to start when trying to determine the quality of the hay.  Another factor is the horse that you are feeding.  Different classes of horses have different nutritional needs.  Are you feeding a “pasture ornament” or a pregnant mare or an endurance competitor?  Or maybe you have some weaned foals to keep growing.  All these animals have different nutritional requirements.  And many can be met by hay/forage. 

It seems many folks think they can look at hay and tell how good of quality it is.  And this is a good preliminary judgement.  Some things to look at are: are there weeds (or other contaminants) present; are there seedheads or blooms present (this indicates maturity at cutting); does it smell like fresh cut grass (or are there burnt, moldy or fermented aromas), is it low in moisture and is it green.  But, ultimately, the true determination of quality is the chemical analysis.

At the State Fair every year, there is a forage show.  You should check it out October 2019 – it’s always in the Jim Graham building beside the restaurant.  This year, one of the classes had three entries, and the entry with the lowest visual score (based on characteristics listed above) won the class as it was highest in protein and energy.  Without the chemical analysis, you would not know how good that hay was.   In fact, the hay had enough protein to feed a maintenance horse and breeding stallion.  It was just shy of enough protein to feed a performance horse.  Additionally, the hay had enough energy to feed a maintenance horse, breeding stallion, performance horse, broodmare, and growing horse.  And many folks would have passed it by just after looking at it.

Below is a brief table with some of the nutritional requirements for various classes of horses.

Table 1. Crude protein, acid detergent fiber and neutral detergent fiber requirements for various feeding classes of horses (expressed on a 100% dry matter basis). Referenced from Paul Siciliano Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Animal Sciences, Colorado State University, who is now with NC State University.

Feeding Class	% Crude Protein	% Acid Detergent Fiber	% Neutral Detergent Fiber
Maintenance	10	37-40	50-65
Breeding Stallion	10	37-40	50-65
Performance	10-12	30-37	40-60
Broodmare	12-18	30-37	40-60
Growing Horse	14-18	30-35	40-5

While visual inspection is good place to start, the only true way to know the nutritional value of the hay is to have it analyzed.  The NC Department of Agriculture performs forage analysis for $10 per sample.  Your Cooperative Extension agent can help you with the sampling and the forms.