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Do people who buy hay for horses actually have this problem? Do they really care about the highest quality? If they do then maybe it is a good idea (there are o

by rpedela 10y ago

Do people who buy hay for horses actually have this problem? Do they really care about the highest quality? If they do then maybe it is a good idea (there are other things to consider like market size). If they do not have this problem, then it is a bad idea by default no matter how good it sounds on paper. The first test of this idea is to interview a dozen or so customers of hay for horses and determine if they really care about quality. And be careful, sometimes people say one thing and do another so you can't necessarily trust their answers to your questions. If you were an expert in the hay for horses field then you would already know the answer, and that is one reason, among many, why it is hard for non-experts to break into the field.

phillc73 10y ago
People who breed or train horses for performance sports (racing, endurance, eventing, dressage etc) absolutely do care about the nutrient content and balance of their horses' diet. There is an ongoing debate regarding feeding high protein hay to performance horses in training. "Alfalfa hay contains too much protein. a. Excess protein in the diets of race or endurance horseswill slow performance." http://alfalfa.ucdavis.edu/%2Bsymposium/proceedings/2001/01-061.pdf http://alfalfa.ucdavis.edu/%2Bsymposium/proceedings/2001/01-... "Protein remains one of the first concerns of horse owners and trainers when they’re buying feed, even though as a nutrient, protein really doesn’t merit all that attention! For years, the racing community labored under the misconception that more protein in the diet equaled more energy for a racehorse. Fortunately, we now know that just isn’t the case. Not only is protein a poor energy source, but some researchers believe a protein excess in the diet actually can compromise a young horse’s performance...." http://www.thehorse.com/articles/10331/feeding-racehorses http://www.thehorse.com/articles/10331/feeding-racehorses "Owners should rely on forage analysis as the primary method of determining the appropriate hay for horses." http://www.extension.umn.edu/agriculture/horse/nutrition/hay-soaking/ http://www.extension.umn.edu/agriculture/horse/nutrition/hay...

by rpedela 10y ago

phillc73 10y ago

People who breed or train horses for performance sports (racing, endurance, eventing, dressage etc) absolutely do care about the nutrient content and balance of their horses' diet. There is an ongoing debate regarding feeding high protein hay to performance horses in training. "Alfalfa hay contains too much protein. a. Excess protein in the diets of race or endurance horseswill slow performance." http://alfalfa.ucdavis.edu/%2Bsymposium/proceedings/2001/01-061.pdf http://alfalfa.ucdavis.edu/%2Bsymposium/proceedings/2001/01-... "Protein remains one of the first concerns of horse owners and trainers when they’re buying feed, even though as a nutrient, protein really doesn’t merit all that attention! For years, the racing community labored under the misconception that more protein in the diet equaled more energy for a racehorse. Fortunately, we now know that just isn’t the case. Not only is protein a poor energy source, but some researchers believe a protein excess in the diet actually can compromise a young horse’s performance...." http://www.thehorse.com/articles/10331/feeding-racehorses http://www.thehorse.com/articles/10331/feeding-racehorses "Owners should rely on forage analysis as the primary method of determining the appropriate hay for horses." http://www.extension.umn.edu/agriculture/horse/nutrition/hay-soaking/ http://www.extension.umn.edu/agriculture/horse/nutrition/hay...