Storing Away the Winter's Hay
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In this newsletter are two articles, your "regularly scheduled" article Storing away the Winter's Feed,
and a "timely reminder" article Earlier Foaling using Artificial Light.
 by Dr. Robert L. Leonard, DVM, AAEP [ Copyright HorseDoc.org 2002 ]
Last week we discussed fescue hay. The other grass hay we can find locally is that made from orchard grass Another cool season grass that is grown alone or with alfalfa, orchard grass is an excellent hay. If baled properly, this leafy, nutritious, and delicious (this is our horse’’s opinion) hay is an excellent choice. It will be a little more expensive then the best fescue hay but it’’s food value will be high with protein levels in the high teens when baled properly. It looks great with the characteristic blue green color and horses will clean up every last leaf.
Other hays you might encounter during your shopping trips include wheat, oats, bluestem, clover, and mixtures. Wheat and oat hay can be a very nutritious feed if baled with the heads intact. If either have been combined before being baled, they are only straw and should be used for bedding, or mulch around the plants in front of the barn! The only problem with these hays, if you can find them, is completing the process of cutting, crimping, and the long curing time before baling without getting the hay wet.
Caucasian Bluestem is a summer grass and will be baled later then the first cutting of the other grasses. Again, when baled in the early stages of maturity the horses will eat it readily. I t is also a fine leafed hay and can be purchased reasonably when you find a source.
Clover is another legume similar to alfalfa. It is unusual to find it alone as it is usually mixed with various grasses. If it is processed properly and without getting wet, clover is an excellent hay. It is high in protein, energy, and minerals and the horses like it. If it makes up a significant portion of the hay mix, this clover mix hay is worth a little more than the straight grass hay.
The mixtures will be difficult for you to classify. If the grasses are processed before maturity and baled without getting wet, they will be nutritious and palatable. The best way to evaluate these is to take a sample to the U of MO Extension Office for identification, and if you are buying a large quantity, for analysis.
Other hays we are seeing are those brought in from other areas. These include Timothy (rarely seen) and Bermudas (very common). Timothy hay is probably the one God fed his horses. Horse owners who move into this area from the North, where a great deal of timothy is raised, have come to depend on it. For some time they will go to great lengths to have it brought in. When the shipping costs are added to the purchase price this becomes an expensive hay even when you can find it. It really is an excellent horse hay but I think our orchard grass hay can give it a run for the money.
The Bermuda hays have become very popular recently due to the easy availability just south of us. They are usually competitive in price with the other grass hays. They are also palatable to the horse and provide a nutritional roughage. I say ‘‘they’’ because there are many varieties of the bermuda grass and you may hear them referred to by the first name of bermuda.
Bermuda hay is a leafy forage. We have seen some problems with it and suggest it initially be fed with other grass or alfalfa hays. We see a few intestinal problems when it is fed alone during cold weather, apparently due to the fine leaf. If may be forming a dry compact stool that slows the movement of the bowel. This leads to discomfort and if not quickly relieved can develop into colic. If fed with other grass hays or alfalfa hay there is no problem. The grass hay used during the trial feeding period must be of good enough quality to compete with the bermuda or Dobbin will eat only the bermuda. After a couple of weeks, bermuda can be fed alone without problems.
We have about worked our way through the barn (hay barn). The hay left to discuss is alfalfa and it can take an entire week’s article to cover.  Back to Top

 Producing Earlier Foals Begins in December
Earlier Foaling using Artificial Light
 by Dr. Robert L. Leonard, DVM, AAEP

For those of us who are anxiously awaiting the breeding season, there are a few management chores needing our attention. You may have noticed the last few articles have hardly mentioned the pregnant mare and the breeding season. This was more avoidance than oversight. There are many good geldings, as well as mares and stallions, that are used for riding without any thought of breeding. These all have seasonal preventive medicine needs that deserve our attention. I hope we have addressed most of them. If you feel we have overlooked an important topic, please contact our office.
Some of you want to start breeding the mare for an early foal, and an early foal would be one born in February or March. Early foals are in demand by those who show in both the halter classes and the early two year old performance classes. Unfortunately, no matter how badly we may want an early foal, Mother Nature and the mare have other ideas.
Most of the mares (three quarters by the last count) choose not to even cycle during the winter. By the time the first day of winter has arrived, which is also the shortest day of the year, the mare’s ovaries have become nonfunctional. They have shrunken in size, from the size of our fist to the size of a walnut. The portion of the brain controlling hormone release is also inactive. They will stay this way until the daylight hours begin to increase. The outside temperature has nothing to do with it. Fortunately, after December 21 each day becomes one to two minutes longer. This increased daylight will eventually stimulate the brain of the mare. Approximately thirty days after the brain recognizes the increased daylight, it will start releasing hormones directed to the ovary.
Once the ovary is stimulated, it will take a minimum of thirty days to start producing follicles. The early ones, however, are usually very small and may not produce enough estrogen for the mare to show signs of heat. Once the follicles are large enough to start affecting the behavior of the mare, the first and usually the second follicle are not fertile. They will be very thick-walled, and once they rupture they will not have a living egg inside. These are the follicles that cause the mares to show signs of heat for days or even weeks. If the mare is bred on these heats, it will not only wear out the stallion but will frustrate the mare and her owner.
Once these initial follicles have ruptured, three weeks later the mare will show signs of estrus (heat) that last for five days. It is only when the mare has regular cycles (the cycles have an average length of three weeks) and the length of her heat is consistent from one to the next (five days is average), should she be bred with any hope of success.
As you can see, by the time you add all the above days together, you have a breeding date in late March or early April. So you are asking yourself, "Is there anything we can do to start the mare cycling earlier?" There is a proven method for making the mare cycle earlier, but it is a little late for this year: Starting on December 1, the mare can be placed under lights for sixteen hours each day. The additional lighting can easily be added onto the end of the day. She can be brought into a stall and put under lights with a timer to complete her sixteen hours of light for each day. There is no advantage to splitting up the hours under lights between the morning or evening hours. The light intensity should be 200 candle power at the level of the mare’s eyes.
If your candle power tester is not working, 200 candle power would be bright enough for you to read a newspaper at eye level. (HINT: if you cannot do this at arms’ length, then try it with reading glasses!)
The use of artificial light must continue until the days are sixteen hours long, or until the mare is bred. It will shorten the mare’s quiet period by thirty days, which means the mare will have fertile heats one month earlier.

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