Where to buy hay?

I've literally never purchased hay before as its just always been provided for me.

I need to get 10-15 square bales or a round bale and I'll peel off layers. Just something to last my horse and FK's mare a week or two. Thinking about leaving them in at night or for several hours a day to just munch on a few flakes. There is pasture, but just not enough for me to be comfortable with her eating nothing else.

I put an ad on kijiji but I don't know any horse people or hay providers in Fredericton. A lot of the kijiji ads are over 1.5 hours away and I'd much prefer to pick a little up closer because I need it tonight!!

Isn't your barn owner starting to feed hay on the 1st? That's only 4 days away. Can you just feed her some soaked beet pulp or soaked hay cubes till then? It just seems like it will be such a hassle for you to get hay. Do you have a truck?

Do you have any dairy barns near you? Go and see them. Are there any other farms near your boarding barn? I would just stop in on your drive to the barn and see if they have a few bales to spare. Have cash on hand.

He's not feeding hay for potentially a few more weeks he says....

My horse is pastured with 4 other horses...but If I'm buying my hay I'm not providing it for all of them.. unfortunately I've no where to pasture her alone with FK's mare so I'll have to come up with a plan. the 3 other boarders have hay however they have a different "agreement" than FK and I apparantly.

I guess he's opening up a field that does have a lot of grass - more than ankle high.. but I'm very nervous about this because they've had limited quantity of grass for the past several weeks.

Everyone is entitled to their horse keeping methods, and doesn't mean one persons right or the other wrong.. in "my" opinion If a horse acts out of character and tramples through a human and into a stall with a horse more dominant to get the bucket, kicks her stall walls because she's so happy to have a hay pile in front of her, and the other horse eats mouth fulls of saw dust in the stall my red flag goes up and I want to make adjustments.

My horse is accustomed to free choice hay year round. Sure, the paddocks were nice and lush and she was in there 24/7 (luckily I can do this without issue) however I'm not comfortable with whats left now.

I've gotten a few contact names and am waiting for response. Barn owner didn't offer to sell any to us as he's not sure if he's got enough to last him til spring

ETA: Boyfriend's father has a huge Ford truck.

Wow, I have been feeding hay for about 6 months right now. Try hay cubes for awhile, beet pulp. If you can.


Grass, I would only put them out for a few hours. I would be very nervous as well.

I seen you ad on kijji..wish I could help you out. but I am too far..im just above Perth Andover.

My horse has not been on hay since May. She's had a flake or two everytime I go out but not actual planned hay feedings.

They've had 10+ acres of green field.

Were talking about a 1,000+ lb horse here.. she's by no means thin and I don't think that any of the horses are anywhere near starving! It's just a matter of personal preferance.

sigh. this SO reminds me why I love keeping my horses at home

If they've been on grass all along, the new field should be fine for them - I would think that the grass, at ankle (or more) deep, should be mature enough to not pose a risk. My understanding has always been that it's either lush new growth (young grasses) or, in fact, overstressed over-grazed grass that poses more risk than 'mature' grass.

The other suggestions of beet pulp, hay stretch, roughage chunks, as substitutes for hay are all also excellent suggestions. And seriously, one of my mares used to be an absolute snot about sweet feeds - she would want to bully the others away from their suppers even after finishing her own (she's not starving by any stretch either) but since I've switched to a new feed, she'll happily eat her own but leaves the others in peace to theirs. So depending on what FK was feeding her horse, it could well be more a "OMG I LOFF SWEET FEED AND I NEED MY FIX" reaction than a "OMG I AM STARVING" reaction... or a bit of both if the grass is badly overgrazed...

They aren't on that deep grasss, or weren't for weeks. Wils not starving like I said, she just thinks she is.. and I'd just prefer to have her on some hay.

She doesn't get sweet feed, or even "grain" nor does FK's mare. They are both on the same pelleted ration balancer "Accelorator Plus" They are both easy keepers. We add a little corn oil and garlic powder, nothing else.

I'm house sitting this weekend and if I can get my hands on some hay the BO has said that I'm more than welcome to bring Willow over and use the facilities (hugeee indoor) and that Fk's mare is more than welcome to come keep Willow company. That means I'll be looking after 7 horses :)

Where did you get your Ration balancer? I don't know if I have seen your horses..lol

No no, Will, what I meant was that the ankle deep grass your current BO is planning on turning them out into should be little risk - less risk than the over-grazed field they're in now :)

And yes, totally understand wanting to start them on hay this time of year, but if your BO isn't sure they have access to enough hay, I would rather see them on 'grass' a bit longer so that when there is absolutely no grass available near the end of winter, the barn still has hay to feed. (Mind you, I personally find it more concerning that they're not sure they have enough to last everyone for the full winter, and yet... are THEY looking for more???)

Good luck - I know locally it wasn't the best haymaking year due to being so dang wet... (and have fun house-sitting!)

Hey were you able to get any hay?? It was snowing here tonight

Hug- Jealous. But some day, some day I'll look out my window and see her :)

TripleC - We buy out Ration Balancer at Shurgain. It is similar to Equilizer.

Going to pick up hay today.