# How long would you soak hay for a laminitic?



## Tiggy1 (3 June 2007)

How long would you soak hay for a lamanitic in a starvation paddock?


----------



## Thistle (3 June 2007)

At least 2 hours and pref longer.


----------



## Christmas_Kate (3 June 2007)

Ours isnt laminitic, but is a fattie, and vet advised me to soak hay over night. Hay usually has at least 12 hours' soaking.


----------



## chestnut cob (3 June 2007)

I heard that today actually.  I remember being told on here last summer that 20 mins was plenty.... my horse is going to be in during the day from now on as getting too fat and was going to post the same question to ask how long to soak his hay!  Looks like i will be doing it over night and getting YO to put it in when she brings in a.m.


----------



## wonkey_donkey (4 June 2007)

20 mins is all that is required.


----------



## lucemoose (4 June 2007)

The lamis on old yard were fed overnight soaked hay, gave them enough to eat and long fibre but no nutrients ( I think)


----------



## spaniel (4 June 2007)

As long as possible (up to 12 hours) but you must ensure the soaking water is changed as often as you can.  Hay soak water turns nasty very quickly so if you are doing a 12 hour soak Id try and change it every few hours.


----------



## ISHmad (4 June 2007)

And always rinse it really well too if you have soaked it for a few hours, then is much more palatable for the horses.  Top Spec told me that it needs soaking for a minimum of 30 minutes to start to lose the sugars but preferably overnight.


----------



## Thistle (4 June 2007)

20 - 30 mins is standard time for normal horses to avoid nutrients being washed out. However for laminitics/fatties we want to remove the sugars so we soak for longer.

Don't forget to feed a balancer to replace the nutrients lost though.


----------



## mrsbloggett (4 June 2007)

12hrs is the recommended for laminitics to remove the sugars which cause the problems.  20 mins soaking is really only suitable to drench mould spores for dusty hay / coughing.  

Always make sure you soak in loads of water ideally only 2 small nets per bath full, otherwise the concentration of sugars in the soaking water will be too high.


----------



## Tia (4 June 2007)

I completely agree with everyone who is saying 12 hours.  This is a laminitic we are talking about and therefore the hay really does need a blooming good soaking.


----------



## Willow1 (4 June 2007)

Hi

Winergy advised me that if I wanted to reduce the nutritional value of the hay then it had to be soaked for several hours.
Soaking hay for 20mins would ok if you just want to reduce the dust.


----------



## Baggybreeches (4 June 2007)

Yep with those above 20 minutes for normal horses but 12 hours for laminitics, it was in our vets spring newsletter.


----------



## amandaco2 (6 June 2007)

12 hours for removal of sugars.
i put in in overnight and then rinse it witha  few fresh buckets of water to get rid of any of that awful brown/sugary water.
horses eat it fine wet/dried


----------



## ILuvCowparsely (13 August 2011)

No  Hay should not be soaked any longer than 1 hour . I phoned up the  http://www.laminitisclinic.org/ and that's what they told me .

 I soak mine for 1/2 hour .


----------



## GingerCat (14 August 2011)

Leviathan said:



			No  Hay should not be soaked any longer than 1 hour . I phoned up the  http://www.laminitisclinic.org/ and that's what they told me .
		
Click to expand...

Thats odd, they told me 6 to 12 hours ...I soak mine overnight.


----------



## itsonlyme (14 August 2011)

The yahoo Cushings group say 1 hour in cold water, or 30 mins in hot water. And to rinse. They've done tests on the hay before & after soaking & said that's all it needs.


----------



## charleysummer (14 August 2011)

i'd say 12 hours, but change the water to get the most sugars out as the concentration inside the hay = concentration in water (osmosis) when it has diffused out as much as possible, so if you reduce the hay sugar, then change the water again, even more sugar will diffuse out down the concentration gradient.. i hope i managed to word that well enough to make sense


----------



## Sprout (14 August 2011)

My vet wanted me to soak the hay for 24 hours.


----------



## Lotty (14 August 2011)

mrsbloggett said:



			12hrs is the recommended for laminitics to remove the sugars which cause the problems.  20 mins soaking is really only suitable to drench mould spores for dusty hay / coughing.  

Always make sure you soak in loads of water ideally only 2 small nets per bath full, otherwise the concentration of sugars in the soaking water will be too high.
		
Click to expand...

I agree.

My mare had lami last year, my Vet, Farrier and the Laminitis Trust all told me the same.


----------



## ILuvCowparsely (14 August 2011)

That is strange I phoned the trust last week and they said don't  soak it any longer than 1  hr as it gets rancid if soaked too long, My mare seems fine on 1 hr

Hay that was left by a livery in the water overnight as i put too much hay out stunk by the morning and we threw it out.

 My vet said 2 hrs but the trust said max 1 hr  so I do 1/2 - 3/4 you do what you want but I am sticking to what they told me Wednesday,.


 found these two quotes as well 





			How Long Should You Soak Hay For A Laminitic?
A	Glad you asked...
The length of time taken to soak hay for a laminitic horse is approximately 30 minutes to one hour. Soaking it longer than that will cause it to obtain a sour taste. 
http://www.bodrwyn.org/articles/dietforlaminitis.php

Click to expand...





			Where the sugar level in a batch of hay is too high for a laminitic horse, soaking it for half an hour in clean water will reduce the sugar levels
		
Click to expand...





http://www.elsolequinepractice.com/Equine_metabolic_syndrome.html

Hay - It is also important to feed hay with low (<12%) non-structural carbohydrate (NSC) content.  NSC&#8217;s include simple sugars, starch, and fructans.  If the NSC of your hay exceeds 12%, soaking it in cold water for 30 minutes prior to feeding will lower the sugar content.
		
Click to expand...





http://www.adelaideplainsequine.com/laminitis.pdf
Feeding a horse with/prone to laminitis:
What you are feeding your laminitic horse could actually be making his condition worse. These horses
should be kept in good body condition and care should be taken to prevent them from becoming
overweight. It is very important to feed a horse that is prone to laminitis a diet that is low in sugar and
carbohydrate. Soaking the hay for about 30 minutes prior to feeding helps remove some of the sugars
in the hay, which is very beneficial.
		
Click to expand...


----------



## GingerCat (15 August 2011)

But it's not just the sugar content that you want to reduce, soaking also removes some of the protein, but that takes longer to leach out. After 30 mins I doubt if water would have even penetrated the stalk properly 

I've NEVER had my hay turn rancid after being soaked overnight, but then I only use clean hay.


----------



## ILuvCowparsely (15 August 2011)

after half hour water is dark tea coloured  I always use ex hay it was last years and no stalks pure beautiful hay . Well  that said  I will still stick to the trust comment on wed last week of max 1 hr. Hay is well soaked in that time  it must be fine as she has been on soaked hay 4 weeks now and its not done anything to her lamiminis.

 The only thing that did is her escaping and getting into  and munching the barley ring bin


----------



## NOISYGIRL (15 August 2011)

I think 20 mins is all that is required for a dust allergy sufferer, but to get rid of the sugar content you need to soak it for longer as other people have said

I soak mine for an hour, I usually put it in when I arrive at the yard, so depending if I ride etc it could be in there longer but not longer than 2 hours, my horse had lami mildly bout 5 years ago, wear's a muzzle when turned out in the day and touch wood has been fine ever since, my vet didn't tell me to do it overnight


----------



## GingerCat (15 August 2011)

Leviathan said:



			The only thing that did is her escaping and getting into  and munching the barley ring bin

Click to expand...

Oh No!  I hope she's OK


----------



## contestdancer (15 August 2011)

I soak 4/5lbs over night and the water does not go particularly dark or dirty. Someone else soaks a 12lbs net during the day and the water goes a disgusting dark brown colour. It depends on the amount of hay being soaked as to how the water changes.


----------

