Well it is nice to see folks reading such an old posting! I did want to mention that REGULAR, DAILY Bran mashes are now considered bad for horses. Bran is an old-time traditional feed for horses, but actually does nothing nutritionally as a feed. A horse with very loose stools from eating bran, is actually LOSING valuable winter water AND minerals from his system. The bran makes horse use lose more water out of his body system, than horse normally would without the bran. Few horses drink additional water to replace that water loss. The bran intake often, allows minerals to leach from the body and mineral loss is also a problem to the horse. I know I heard lots about feeding Bran mash in winter, how good it was for horse. Now has all proven to be a total fallacy in horse feeding. The wet beet pulp with hot water, hot water on hay cubes, add your snack bits of apples or carrots, is MUCH better in food and water intake value, than bran mash. Bran is actually harmful to horses when fed regularly and often. Does smell good though, about the only good part. Our horses LOVE the warm, wet beet pulp we feed at night. Do pay attention to individual horses. One of ours quit drinking inside. Daughter mentioned seeing her roll the evening before, as they lined up to come into barn. Odd timing for that to happen, so I was lookin at her hard when I did AM chores. Full water buckets in stall, 2nd morning in a row set off the alarm for me. I was watching her MUCH more closely when I turned her out that day. She was "off", didn't eat much hay, no drink from tank. I started doing hourly checks on her outside. She has always been a problem drinker when she doesn't feel perfect. She is atypical in her signs, still pooping and having gut sounds while acting out pain, usually laying down, not rolling. We NEVER do the "wait and see" with her. As she started acting odd, Husband came home and gave her a pain shot. Vet came and pumped her full of water mixed with a new med to break up forage material in her gut. This horse goes off and shows it VISIBLY at a very early stage, not a stoic pain endurance animal. We did everything right, she came around, but it was a LONG 24 hours before the wait was over. She still didn't drink well for another 2 days, ate some snow, was not offered much feed like hay. We wanted her gut more empty, easy to move what forage was in it. Wet beet pulp stayed in front of her, along an electric warm water bucket, She was turned out on small grassy paddock where she dug for old grass and ate snow. Room to move helps gut work. Alone in paddock allowed us to find and count poop piles to ensure she WAS going, gut was moving food. Just wanted to make sure you are checking individuals and each equine's water intake. We know our Princess well, her visible pain reaction EARLY, prevented her from being a statistic. Over this last weekend, the Vet said they lost 6 others to Colic, impaction from not drinking enough. One was the my kid's 4-H leader's horse, who showed no signs early. He was too far gone when found in the AM, rolling terribly, had twisted his gut along with impaction. Quite horrible to find, had to be put down. We think that mare was having a painful heat cycle, with new longer sunshine days getting her back going. Painful cycle probably was the origin of not drinking. She is in full heat now. Other folks have said they noticed colic problems with huge temp swings from cold to almost hot of early Spring or thunderstorm activity with pressure changes. Keep an eye on your animals, know what is normal for them. React quickly when they quit being "normal", before it is too late. Hope you all have NO PROBLEMS with your 4-legged friends.

Bucky, Thanks for clearing this up. I've read some posts that clearly questions the distinction between hay and straw. Simply, straw is the stems from grains left after combining of the grain. It's then bailed and usually ends up as livestock bedding. Wheat straw is more absorbant than oat straw and is most desireable for bedding. Also, some livestock will eat oat straw bedding. Hay is simply grasses or legumes or combinations of the two that is cut, thetherd into rows and bailed after drying. This is animal feed. Usually horse owners prefer timothy or grasses like orchard grass or a mix of grasses. Legumes are prefered by dairy farmers for milk production. In either hay or the straw the weeds come from weeds that grew with the crop in the field. I use clean straw for mulch in the garden, but not in the orchard.

A little scared to wander in here... As someone with horses who buys hay and incorporates it into a complete feeding program I would not assume that "quality hay" infers "high protein hay." What I'm looking for in "quality hay" is clean, properly baled (not molded or dusty) hay that is palatable. If you go ask any random horse person if they feed "quality hay" for the most part they are NOT going to be thinking about protein content when they answer! I have horses with a higher metabolism that need more total digestible nutrients from their hay and they may get a hay with higher protein in the form of legumes. I've got fatties that need no additional nutrients in their hay but the nature of a horse's digestive system is one that does better if they keep small amounts of forage moving through it so I try to find them something palatable with low TDN and low protein. But they all get "quality hay." Cattle farmers who are either producing milk or beef might be more likely to equate protein with quality, not so much horse owners.

I've never used horse manure. I used tons of cow manure. A friend of mine uses horse manure for her roses. Every spring she gets fresh horse manure and applies it in a thick layer around the roses. At some distance, of course. If the manure touches the canes, it will burn. Any manure. I've never heard of manure burning roots, just by being applied on the ground around the plant. Of course, maybe it is possible, I just never heard of such thing or experienced. A compost pile.... You can use the compost in any way you want - for mulch (when is not finished), for tea or straight in the hole. I have plants planted in pure compost and... I have to say that the way they grow is just incredible. Compost will never burn. There's no such thing as "too much compost". It is normal to have many many kinds of bugs and worms and other creatures in a compost pile. They are important actually. You want them there. It is a whole science in making a compost pile. You will have to learn how to do it right if you want rich compost and a pile that doesn't stink the whole yard. You can have a big compost pile or a small one (a 4 x 4 x 4 I would say is a good - small - size). You know what I would do? I would find a place in my yard that is a little out of the way, I would build a bin with some chicken wire, I would get the manure, I would go in the park or forest or something like that and I would get lots of dry leaves and I would mix them together and would just let them sit there until spring. Or... you can make compost tea. I assume you know how to do that one, right? Boy, did I talk a lot :) If there's something else you need to know... go ahead and ask. Valentina