There’s nothing quite like the satisfaction of knowing exactly what you’re feeding your horses. Here at Fox Field Farm, we’ve watched countless horse owners stare at their hay analysis reports with the same bewildered expression: rows of numbers and abbreviations that might as well be written in a foreign language. But here’s the thing: understanding your hay analysis isn’t rocket science, and once you know what to look for, those numbers become your roadmap to better horse nutrition.
Whether you’re managing a single backyard companion or a barn full of performance horses, reading a hay analysis is one of the most valuable skills you can develop. In just five minutes, you can learn to decode these reports like a seasoned professional, making informed decisions that’ll keep your horses healthy and thriving.
Why Your Hay Analysis Matters More Than You Think
We’ve all been there: standing at the hay seller’s barn , running our hands over different hay bales, trying to judge quality by colour, smell, and feel alone. While these sensory checks certainly have their place, they only tell part of the story. A beautiful-looking bale might be lacking in essential nutrients, while that slightly brown hay might pack exactly what your horse needs.
Your hay analysis removes the guesswork entirely. For about $60 you get a complete nutritional blueprint that helps you balance rations, choose supplements wisely, and most importantly, keep your horses healthy. Think of it as your horse’s nutritional passport: essential information that travels with every bale.
Starting with the Basics: Understanding Your Report Layout
When your analysis arrives, you’ll notice two columns of numbers: “As Sampled” and “Dry Matter.” Here’s your first pro tip: always focus on the dry matter column. This column reports nutrients with all moisture removed, giving you the true nutritional comparison between different hays. It’s like comparing apples to apples instead of trying to compare a fresh apple to a dried one.
The dry matter values allow you to accurately compare different hay types and make informed feeding decisions. Whether you’re evaluating timothy, orchard grass, or that premium alfalfa mix, the dry matter column puts everything on equal footing.
Moisture Content: Your Safety Checkpoint
Before diving into nutrients, glance at the moisture content: it’s typically listed at the top of your report. This number tells you more about hay safety than nutritional value, but it’s crucial information. We recommend hay with moisture between 10 and 15 percent for optimal storage and palatability.
Hay below 10 percent becomes overly dry and brittle, leading to excessive leaf loss and reduced appeal for your horses. More concerning is hay exceeding 17 percent moisture, which carries increased mold risks. Any hay testing above 20-25 percent moisture poses serious dangers, including the potential for spontaneous combustion: definitely not something you want in your barn.
Protein: Meeting Your Horse’s Needs
Crude protein requirements vary dramatically based on your horse’s life stage and activity level. For adult horses at maintenance: those leisurely pasture companions or light trail horses: crude protein levels around 10-12 percent work perfectly. Young, growing horses, lactating mares, and performance horses in intense training require significantly higher protein levels.
Understanding your horse’s protein needs helps you make smart supplementation decisions. If your hay tests at 8 percent protein but your performance horse needs 14 percent, you’ll know exactly how much additional protein to provide through concentrates or supplements.
Decoding Fiber: ADF and NDF
Two fiber measurements dominate every hay analysis, and they’re game-changers for understanding digestibility. Acid Detergent Fiber (ADF) represents the least digestible portions of your forage: think of it as the “tough stuff” your horse’s digestive system struggles with. Values under 45 percent work well for horses, with ideal levels below 31 percent.
Neutral Detergent Fiber (NDF) indicates total cell wall content and directly impacts how much your horse can actually eat. NDF values under 65 percent are acceptable, but we love seeing numbers below 50 percent. Highly palatable hay typically shows NDF between 40 and 50 percent. When NDF climbs above 65 percent, don’t be surprised if your horses turn their noses up: they instinctively know this hay won’t satisfy them.
Higher fiber values mean less digestible hay, resulting in more waste in your manure pile and potentially requiring larger quantities to meet energy needs.
NSC: Critical for Metabolically Sensitive Horses
Non-Structural Carbohydrates (NSC) have become increasingly important as we better understand equine metabolic disorders. For horses with conditions like insulin resistance, Cushing’s disease, or chronic laminitis, NSC content can make the difference between health and crisis.
The general guideline for metabolically sensitive horses is keeping NSC below 10-12 percent on a dry matter basis. NSC encompasses starch, water-soluble carbohydrates, and ethanol-soluble carbohydrates. If your report doesn’t list total NSC, you can estimate it by adding water-soluble carbohydrates plus starch values.
Here’s a helpful tip: if your hay tests high in NSC but you need to feed it to sensitive horses, soaking it in water for 30-60 minutes can reduce water-soluble carbohydrate content, as these nutrients literally dissolve and leach out.
Energy Values: Your Horse’s Calorie Count
Digestible Energy (DE) functions as the calorie count for hay, representing the energy your horse can actually utilize. Most horse hay ranges from 0.75 to 1.0 Mcal per pound, though the ideal number depends entirely on your horse’s energy requirements.
High-performance horses, growing youngsters, and lactating mares benefit from hay on the upper end of this range, while easy keepers and horses prone to weight gain may thrive on lower-energy options. Understanding DE values helps you match hay quality to each horse’s individual needs.
Mineral Balance: The Often-Overlooked Factor
While we often focus on energy and protein, mineral balance deserves attention too. The calcium to phosphorus ratio should fall between 3:1 and 1:1 for adult horses. Severely imbalanced ratios require dietary adjustment through targeted supplementation to prevent developmental and metabolic issues.
Most grass hays naturally provide appropriate mineral ratios, while legume hays like alfalfa tend to be higher in calcium. Understanding these relationships helps you make informed supplementation decisions.
Putting Knowledge into Action
Once you receive your analysis, the real work begins. We always recommend working with an equine nutritionist to balance your complete ration, especially if you’re managing multiple horses with different needs. Remember, even gorgeous-looking hay doesn’t always correlate with superior nutritional value: we’ve seen stunning green bales test similarly to brown ones from the same cutting.
The investment in hay analysis pays dividends in horse health, feed efficiency, and peace of mind. For twenty dollars, you’re making educated decisions rather than nutritional guesses.
Sampling: Getting Accurate Results
Your analysis is only as good as your sample, so proper technique matters. Collect samples from multiple bales within the same cutting and field to ensure representative data. A core sampling tool gives you the most accurate representation, though careful hand sampling from several bales works too.
Store your samples in clean, dry containers and get them to the lab quickly for the most accurate results.
At Fox Field Farm, we understand that every horse is unique, with individual nutritional needs that change with seasons, workload, and life stage. Reading hay analysis empowers you to provide exactly what each horse needs, when they need it. Whether you’re feeding a single backyard horse or managing a large operation, these skills will serve you well for years to come.
We’d love to hear about your experiences with hay testing and help you navigate any questions that arise. After all, we’re all in this together, working toward the same goal: happy, healthy horses thriving on quality nutrition. Feel free to reach out: we’re always excited to connect with fellow horse enthusiasts who share our passion for excellence in equine care.