Haylage

At Little Pressmore Farm we grow our own Haylage providing it to your horse continuously in controlled amounts. We believe that this enhances the health of your horse by encouraging the muscular contractions of the horse's digestive system; and contributing to the even wear of your horse's teeth. To demonstrate this commitment to the welfare of your horse we provide our Haylage flat a flat fee of less than two pounds a day regardless of amounts consumed.

Many horse owners now value the quality, availability, cost and convenience of Haylage feeding, fully appreciating the benefits of this natural alternative to hay when compared to hay.

The low moisture content of hay, approximately 10%, can result in mould with mould spores becoming airborne. These can cause an allergic respiratory disease called Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) referred to as broken wind, dust cough or dust allergy. Unfortunately up to a fifth of horses suffer from sub-clinical dust allergies and once a horse has been affected the horse requires special management to minimise exposure to dust for the rest of its life.

Additional advantages of feeding Haylage over hay include excellent palatability for your horse and easier digestion, the creamy yeast colonies occasionally observed are the same yeasts found in probiotics. Unopened bales can be stored for up to 18 months however at Little Pressmore Farm we will not use a bale if it is over 12 months old ensuring that your horse receives the freshest feed possible.

Once open the bales are used within two days ensuring the product does not have the opportunity to spoil. Although we are confident that our Haylage is of the highest quality is still doesn't stop us from checking each bale before feeding to horses in our care. If a bale were to show even the smallest sign of spoilage the whole bale would be discarded to safeguard your horse's health.

We use specialist contractors to cut and bale our Haylage. The grass is allowed to dry and is then wrapped with 10 / 12 layers of top quality stretch film. An inoculant is added to p roduce a faster more stable pH fall, promote consistency between bales and inhibiting mould growth.

As the bacteria in the horses large intestine are exceedingly sensitive to dietary changes new horses into our care are switched from their forage feed to our Haylage gradually over a week, allowing the horses body a chance to adapt. Upon arrival we discuss with you how you would like Haylage feeding to be incorporated into your daily feeding regime. Haylage has approximately a 10% higher nutrient value then hay so this can affect the amount of hard feed required to meet energy requirements.

Haylage contains higher quality nutrients diluted in the higher moisture content. An average 500 kg horse, e.g. 16hh riding horse requires a minimum daily fibre input of 1% bodyweight (5 kg). Due to the wetter nature of Haylage this needs to be increased to 1.5% (7.5 kg) fresh weight to give a similar dry matter intake. It is important to note that a 7.5 kg pile of wet, solid Haylage appears much smaller in volume than 5 kg of light fluffy hay.

To promote confidence and in total consultation with the owner we monitor the feeding regime of all horses in our care to ensure that dietary requirements are being met resulting in healthy horses.