Hay, like all other crops, is adversely affected by prolonged drought such as the one Kentucky experienced this past summer. With less hay available, the product will cost more in the coming months. That situation has members of the Kentucky Horse Council (KHC) and various equine rescue organizations worried.
Tom Keene, hay marketing specialist with the University of Kentucky, said that despite the drought, hay suitable for cattle should be in sufficient supply this winter. But people "who use high quality hay to feed dairy cattle and horses will likely need to import additional quantities this year to have a sufficient supply," he added.
Horses need higher quality hay, such as alfalfa, timothy, or a mixture of one of these with grass. The better hay has a higher level of protein that horses require to be healthy.
On average a horse will eat about 2 percent of its weight in dry matter (hay plus some oats or other grain) every day. That means that a 1,000 pound saddle horse needs about 20 pounds of hay, or about one-third to one-fourth of a bale every day.
According to the UK College of Agriculture's "Forage News," the U.S. Department of Agriculture forecasts 2 percent less alfalfa available this year. Yields of this crop were slightly higher than last year, but 4 percent fewer acres were planted.
Higher prices for hay, because it has to be brought in from another state, is just one rising expense for horse owners. Prices for fuel and other supplies are also up.
Keene and local hay suppliers suggest that horse owners should order their winter supply of hay as soon as possible, since prices are up nationwide. Many prudent horse owners have already arranged for the hay their horses will need this winter.
But horse owners of limited means can't afford to buy in quantity and/or pay in advance. KHC and the rescue groups know that some of these people will have to give up their horses because they can no longer afford to feed and care for them.
In the year and a half that Kentucky Equine Humane Center has been in operation, the rescue group has taken in more than 230 horses, donkeys, and mules. A year ago Lori Neagle, Director of KEHC, was getting two or three calls a week about horses that needed new homes. Now she receives ten or more calls every week.
"Right now there's a real crisis in Kentucky for unwanted horses and we all need to work together to get them placed," Neagle said.
Recently Neagle and leaders of other equine rescue and adoption groups met with the Kentucky Horse Council. Group members shared strategies and continued their ongoing discussion of how they can work together to keep Kentucky's horses safe and fed.
The Kentucky Horse Council, KHC, teaches animal control and law enforcement officers the signs to recognize that a horse needs to be put under legal protection. Besides the clear evidence of cruelty to animals, Executive director Ginny Grulke said there are economic repercussions beyond Kentucky's borders.
"If we do not have an untarnished reputation in how we treat our horses, it affects business. People will say 'you know how these Kentucky people treat their horses' and then they'll buy [horses] elsewhere," Grulke explained.