RE: [RC] Soaked Hay water - Susan E. Garlinghouse, DVM
>I should have also said that one is never to let the horses
drink the hay water as it is so full of sugar that it >could
founder a horse who is suseptible to founder. If our pony were to drink
the water after I removed the >hay, before the
water starts to ferment, he would re-rotate and it would be
the end of Zebby. Beccy
It’s
true you shouldn’t feed the soak water back to the potential founder
horse, since soaking it to remove the water soluble carbohydrates was the
reason you soaked it in the first place. If a horse isn’t at risk
for metabolic issues, and as long as the water isn’t fermenting and
getting icky, there’s no particular harm to letting another horse drink
the water---after all, it’s the same amount of sugar that was in a
portion of hay, it’s now just dissolved in water. I wouldn’t
go compounding it by soaking several successive flakes of hay, or by letting it
sit around and get all gunky…but sugar isn’t poison, either, for
99% of the horses out there, and if a little flavor encourages them to drink
more, great. (TI would be so proud of me for admitting that in
public).<g>
