The strengths and weaknesses of horse hay.

This article is written by Viktor Kvachan, the father of horse engineering, innovator and founder of EHOSS. Part Two.

Part One.

The last mile of hay.

This is the most vulnerable place for horses and for humans in the horse stable. The last mile of hay is a path from the storage to the horse's stall. Hay is the biggest cause of dust and dirt in the stable. Let's figure out what's going on there.

First, the process of filling wheelbarrows is done manually by the stable hands with the help of ordinary pitchforks. Such a bale of hay is usually placed in the aisles or in separate places close to the stalls. During the loading of hay, a large part of the dust rises into the air. Filling wheelbarrows takes about 10 minutes. During this time, the stable hand inhales up to 500 liters of air. It is hard to imagine how much dust is in such a volume of air and what harm it causes to human health. The negative effect accumulates gradually and does not immediately affect health. Apart from the stable hand, all other people in the stable breathe this dust.

Stable air quality and the choice of undusty hay are an important health issue both in horses and people working or visiting horse stables. Risks of impaired respiratory health are those that can especially be avoided by improving air quality in the horse stable.         

This video shows the process of loading hay and the dust it creates in the air.

Secondly, a significant part of the dust settles together with the hay in the wheelbarrows. The stable hand loads the hay to the nets or to the horse feeder. During this process the stable hand breathes the dust again and then the horse breathes it as well. The dust flies in the air of the stable, settles on the all surface, and rises again with drafts. A horse living in such a dusty environment is more prone to diseases, including infectious and respiratory diseases. In a minute, a calm horse inhales around 60 liters of air.

Thirdly, in addition to dust, it may happen that the hay for feeding a horse will also contain mold, wool and excrement of animals or rodents. Mold spores are almost invisible to the human eye. Also, we have stable dogs and cats that like to stay in places where hay is stored. We can find both wool and animal excrement in the hay.

This video demonstrates how the dog sleeps on the hay.

Conclusion.

?In fact, the conclusion is very obvious and clear to everyone, the high-quality hay should not contain dust, mold, animal excrement, etc.

We cannot influence the process of hay storage in the field. But we have a little influence on the process of hay storage in the stable. Also, we can definitely solve the problem of quality hay in the last mile of hay to the horse stall.