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Understanding your hay analysis
Quick facts
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A basic hay analysis costs about $20.
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Optimum horse hay moisture ranges from 10 to 15 percent.
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ADF values under 45 percent are generally good for horses.
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NDF values under 65 percent are generally good for horses.
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The adult horse at maintenance should have a Ca to P ratio between 3:1 and 1:1.
A hay analysis helps you better understand what you’re feeding your horse. This is especially important if you’re concerned about the hay quality or if your horse is having nutrition problems.
Always request a horse analysis when sending in hay samples. You will need a separate analysis for each field, cutting etc. A basic hay analysis costs about $20.
After an analysis, work with a horse nutritionist to balance your horse’s ration.
Reading a hay analysis
On a hay analysis there are two columns of numbers: “As Sampled” and “Dry Matter.” As Sampled reports nutrients in their natural state including water. While Dry Matter reports nutrients with the moisture removed.
You can use either column for balancing your horse’s diet but be consistent; however, we reccomend using the % Dry Matter column. Below is a short list of some components analyzed in hay.
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Optimum horse hay moisture ranges from 10 to 15 percent.
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Hay under 10 percent moisture may be too dry, leading to brittle hay.
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Hay over 16 percent moisture has a chance of molding (without a preservative).
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Hays over 25 percent moisture are at risk of severe heat damage and potential fire hazard.
Crude protein is a measure of protein content in the hay and is an indicator of the number of amino acids in the hay. CP can range from:
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8 to 14 percent in grass hays
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14 to 17 percent in legume-grass mixed hays
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15 to over 20 percent in legume hays
Most adult horses at maintenance require about 10 percent CP.
Cellulose, lignin and other poorly digestive components comprise ADF. Thus ADF measures how digestible the nutrients are in hay. The lower the value, the more digestible the nutrients.
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Values under 45 percent are generally good for horses.
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Values above 45 percent maybe of little nutrition value.
NDF is a measure of insoluble fiber. In theory, the higher the NDF, the less a horse will eat. NDF levels under 65 percent are generally good for horses. Horses likely won’t eat hay with NDF values over 65.
A RFV of 100 is about average. An horse nutritionist won’t use RFV to balance a horse’s ration.
You can use this value to balance the energy part of your horse’s diet. A horse in light work needs about 20 Mcal of DE daily. Most hays range from 0.76 to 1.1 Mcal per pound of DE.
All horses need these minerals in specific amounts. The mineral content in hay differs between hay types. The adult horse at maintenance should have a Ca to P ratio between 3:1 and 1:1.
Fat (sometimes referred to as Crude Fat) is a measure of fat content.
Fat is an energy-dense nutrient and contains about 2.25 times the energy found in carbohydrates.
Forages are typically low in fat.
A good source of energy.
Forages are typically low in starch.
No more than 15% of total daily calories from starch should be fed to horses diagnosed with PSSM (polysaccharide storage myopathy).
Carbohydrates solubilized and extracted in 80% ethanol.
Includes primarily monosaccharides (glucose and fructose) and disaccharides.
Some forage labs will refer to ESC simply as “sugar”.
Carbohydrates solubilized and extracted in water.
Includes monosaccharides, disaccharides and some polysaccharides (mainly fructan).
Fructan is a major storage carbohydrate in grasses.
An analysis of the nonstructural carbohydrates (starches and sugars) in the forage.
NSC is commonly estimated by adding starch plus WSC.
Since some horses can be very sensitive to dietary starch and sugar (i.e. horses with PSSM, EMS or laminitis), the NSC level can be helpful in selecting hay.
Hay containing greater than 10 to 12% NSC should not be fed to these horses or should be soaked prior to feeding.
Reviewed in 2021