Those types are considered easy keepers, as oppossed to Thoroughbred types, meaning you do not need the best type of hay. I would think you would be wise to plant a grass based hay such as orchardgrass with some legume such as alfalfa, clover, or trefoil mixed in. Horses are pretty simple to feed and care for as long as you don't get too stupid about concentrates, that is what does most of them in, not what type of hay they are fed. Chronic laminitic horses have issues with high NSC hay but in general it won't matter. Watch body condition scores as a barometer of what is goiong on.

 

I have learned that Legumes are not recommended for Gypsies, stopped all Alfalfa, and have only given her Timothy & Orchard..she’s much better focused…just what I was told by my vet…

 

Thank you kinda what i told her

 

It is a truth that horses do not require he very best hay. In fact Horse quality is hay that is not up to dairy standards.
A horse that is not in training for the race track or is a wet mare does need alfalfa. A good clean grass hay that test in the 10% to 12% protein range. Many survive make do with less than 8% CP hay.

Chronic laminitic horses have issues with high NSC hay was mentioned. That is more commonly referred to foundering.
High NDC hay is high non structural carbohydrate aka starches and sugars.
A horse with this disease has too much insulin in the blood stream for the amount of sugars in the blood. The extra insulin causes the blood vessels to constrict.
At best it is a mild discomfort and their feet hurt.
More typical their feet become very painful and it hurts to walk.
In the extreme the blood supply is so constricted to the feet that the hoofs can fall off. Now that is not only painful but debilitating.

Now I am in the business of raising and selling hay.
I will now tell you that feeding hay is not economical.
If, with some management, you can avoid feeding harvested feeds, and have the animals do all the harvesting you will be money ahead. How you accomplish this is dependent on your climate, soil, and management style.
Harvested forages are for when there is no grazing forage available or the standing forage requires supplementary feeding.

Obviously someone with one or more horses on a town lot will feed 100% hay. Some locations can support one horse on 1 - 2 acres, with management. For other locations 540 acres might not adequate.

My opinion is id you have enough ground to put up hay you have more than enough ground to full time graze your animals, regardless of type.

If you put the horses up for the night, then some hay is advised. If you use some kind of bedding material, buy a low quality hay. When fairly clean they will "graze" the bedding. When they horse stop grazing their bedding, exchange it and feed the soiled hay to your cattle. The cattle will do very well on this supercharged hay. If you do not have cattle get a few hair type sheep. They will also do well on the modified bedding, plus they will clip the pasture where your horses avoid. Plus they will keep the weeds out of the paddocks. Put the sheep right in with the horses.

You of course realize this is from a total stranger with no financial interest in your success or failure. This is free advise and worth what it cost.

 

A interesting thing about horse grazing is that horses unlike cattle are "continuous grazers", they do not stop to ruminate like cattle. Studies have shown that horses will eat on the average 13 different feeding/grazing episodes a day totalling 18 hours compared to cattle 8 hours a day - the issue here is that horses will consume alot more forage then necessary for minimum body maintenance, i.e. DMI should be .02 of body weight just like cattle however horses will eat a good half to double that amount per day, especially a Gypsie Vanner light draft type. This is why horses on lush pasture often blow right up and get real heavy and alot of laminitis cases are from spring green up when too much sugar is present in forage.
Therefore, we can feed/graze using two strategies, low quality add lib hay, say in the 8% CP hay allowing the horse to eat more volume then necesary or feed with a higher CP and DE hay and meter out the more exact amounts of hay to meet the .02 DMI. However, based on the history of digestive and laminitic upsets that horses often die from it is obvious that horses have evolved to subsist on low quality, high intake diets inorder to keep things working ok, so I always suggest to my clients that the low quality, more high fiberous diets fed more add lib are more healthy and usually economically feasable because you often pay more for the calories then the fiber.
Lets' clear up the terms, Laminitis is the case Hay Wilson describes, Founder is the symptom of laminitis when the structure of the hoof wall sluffs off enough and the anchoring of the extensior process ligiment on the anterior hoof wall gives way and the coffin bone begins decending and rotates downward. Not all laminitis cases involve founder.

 

You guy's are way over my head. we do have a horse with sugar and i sell 2nd cut we try to stay out of the high enegery and more twards the fiber so i do agree.

 

There ya go, sounds like you are way ahead of this.