Question

My 10-year-old, 1,000-lb (450-kg) Appaloosa mare recently suffered impaction colic. In my opinion, coarse hay caused the colic, because a stubborn, hard-to-heal jaw abscess sometimes makes chewing difficult for her. I am thinking of taking her off regular hay and substituting pelleted hay. She has an osteochondrosis dissecans (OCD) lesion in her right hip, so exercise aside from turnout is not part of her life.

Answer

Your mare would be a good candidate for hay pellets. Any horse that has compromised chewing abilities will do better with hay that is prepared in some form, like chopped or pelleted.

Fortified hay pellets would be ideal. With these pellets, there is no need for additional feed or vitamin and mineral supplementation except salt. The pellets can be fed dry or dampened to make a mash.

Even though hay pellets can be fed alone, horses have a need to chew, and completely pelleted diets do not always satisfy that need. Therefore, it is a good idea to still offer a little bit of regular hay as well. Because impaction colic can be caused by ingestion of improperly chewed coarse hay that is either too high in dry matter and/or indigestible fiber content, you may want to make sure that any hay you offer is high quality with few stems. Coastal hay should not be too fine.