Hay Challenges
It wasn’t supposed to be complicated. Hay to feed the horses is supplied by This Old Horse, and it is up to their managers to procure the bales from anywhere they can. Our liaison, Maddy, checked with the previous farmer who delivered to us, but he was out of grass hay.
She found another source who delivered 85 bales yesterday. An hour after we’d stacked it in the hay shed, the Nutritionist arrived to check on the condition of the horses. She was following up after having switched the horses’ feed from grains to processed pellets of Senior Feed last summer.
The good news is that she found all the horses are doing very well since the diet change. The bad news is that she didn’t like the looks of the new hay bales at all. Her concern is that the nutritional quality of the new hay looks so poor that feeding them this at this time of year will leave them short of their daily needs.
That leaves poor Maddy in the difficult position of needing to find another source and figure out what to do with the 85 bales now in our shed.
Just to mess up the day a little more after that, the farrier was running behind and asked to move our appointment from the afternoon to first thing this morning.
One bright spot I particularly enjoyed during the Nutritionist’s visit was the surprisingly social demonstration by the horses as we stood in the paddock and talked over their body condition scoring. All four horses brought their heads together around us, peeking over our shoulders and standing close without issue for an uncharacteristic amount of time.
Eventually, Mix brought things back to normal by getting snippy with Mia, forcing her to move away, which prompted the rest of us to break our little huddle. It didn’t spoil how precious it was to see the horses being so present in the moment together and tuned in with us as we chatted.
It was a nice exclamation point on the fact that their body condition scores were ideal for their ages. It means a lot to us that they not only look good physically, but their behaviors reflect that they are doing pretty well emotionally, too.
Now, if we could find a way to give them some better hay to eat this winter, that would be just grand.
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Relative Something 
Hi,
Thanks for sharing the story about the hay challenges at the sanctuary. It’s a great reminder of the constant care and problem-solving that goes into looking after animals. The image of the four horses creating a little huddle with you during the nutritionist’s visit was particularly heartwarming.
Since you mentioned that Maddy needs to find a new source, did the nutritionist have any suggestions for what you could do with the 85 bales of hay you have on hand? It seems like a lot to have sitting there, and I hope there’s a way to put it to good use for another purpose.
Good luck solving the hay puzzle, and give the horses a pat for me!
Sam from Chattanooga
December 22, 2025 at 2:42 am
Thanks! The nutritionist said we should return the bales, but I think the budding relationship with this farmer is fragile to mess with that. I don’t think we’ll have any difficulty finding someone who will want them. For now, we’re letting Maddy deal with it. In the interim, we are mixing it in with the final 20 bales we are working our way through of the previous good batch. I sense this will get more attention after the New Year.
Horses sufficiently patted for you! I took blankets off three of them today because we are in a warming trend again. We leave Mia’s on because she doesn’t grow quite as thick a winter coat as the others.
johnwhays
December 22, 2025 at 3:21 pm