Meadow Grass Hay, a Low Carb, Low Starch Alternative

Twelve tons of Adel Meadow Grass hay should arrive here at the ranch the first week of September. The hay is harvested by Crump Ranch and trucked to their Sisters, Oregon operation. Larry DeSannos of G & G Hay sales (503-706-1389), my awesome "hay guy," has agreed to pick up the hay and bring it here to Sweetgrass Ranch.

Why Meadow Grass hay? It's a long story, but here goes...

Last January, my coming two year-old filly, Jetblue, suffered a right dorsal displacement of her colon -- a serious colic requiring emergency life-saving surgery. In the months that followed, Jetblue experienced three minor colic episodes, prompting us to investigate. Here's what we learned.

Orchard and Timothy grass hays are most often high in carbohydrates and starches, energy sources that are typically digested in the horse's foregut, creating a lot of gas bubbles. It's my understanding that the gas can be significant enough to cause a displacement of the colon.

For horses that are insulin resistant, high carb, high starch grasses can lead to colic and  even laminitis. While we have not had Jetblue tested for this condition, she does fit the profile, having grown at an incredible rate all throughout her first two years.

When Jetblue's colic surgeon, Dr. Jill Parker of Oregon State University, recommended a reduced bulk, high fiber diet with a concentrate like Purina Wellsolve, we took her advice to heart. To ensure a high fluid intake, we've been soaking Jetblue's Orchard Grass hay, a process which also reduces the carb levels of this hay by as much as 30%.  Jetblue is fed small portions of hay more often. Following Dr. Parker's recommendation, my colic-prone filly receives a ration of Purina Wellsolve.  As a precaution, we soak the Wellsolve and combine it with beet pulp. Since going to this regimen, Jetblue has not shown any signs of colic.

Clearly, there are other possibilities. Jetblue cribs and cribbers are notorious for colic. When she is in the barn -- where she cribs -- we always have an effective cribbing collar on her.

Ulcers can be a source of colic, too, so we've been careful to keep to a fixed feeding schedule and to provide access to pasture as much as possible. When a horse is chewing hay or grazing on grass, he or she produces a good measure of saliva and saliva is a potent buffer for stomach acid. Incidentally, there is a lot of research indicating that alfalfa has very good stomach acid-buffering properties, too, due to its calcium content.

So to get back to the question, why Meadow Grass, here's my take. Meadow Grass is a fine stemmed native grass which grows at high elevations. It is typically lower in sugar content than Orchard or Timothy -- in this case the worrisome carbohydrate leve runs about 6.5%, well bellow the vet recommended value of 10%.

The protein level of Meadow Grass is significantly lower, about 8%, meaning we'll need to feed more to meet our horses' protein requirements or we'll need to supplement with something a high protein concentrate like soybean meal. The plus side of feeding a horse more hay is that it actively engages them in the process of chewing which results in more stomach acid-buffering saliva.

Since locating the Crump Ranch Meadow Grass hay, I've been feeding Jetblue a single flake of the stuff, dry. She "hoovers" it up and seems grateful to be treated to something that isn't soaking wet.

Will Meadow Grass help colic-proof Jetblue? I sure hope so!