Young Black Haired Girl At The Haystack

Unlike ruminants, horses digest food in small portions throughout the day, and can only use approximately 2.5% their body weight in feed in any 24-hour period. They evolved to be continuously on the move while grazing, (covering up to 50 miles per day in the wild) and their stomach digests food quite rapidly. Thus, they extract more nutrition out smaller quantities feed. However, when horses are fed low-quality hay, they may develop an unhealthy, obese, "hay belly" due to over-consumption "empty" calories. If their type feed is changed dramatically, or if they are fed moldy hay or hay containing toxic plants, they can become ill; colic is the leading cause death in horses. Contaminated hay can also lead to respiratory problems in horses. Hay can be soaked in water, sprinkled with water or subjected to steaming to reduce dust.
Making and transporting hay
Hay production and harvest, colloquially known as "making hay", "haymaking", or "doing hay," involves a multiple step process: cutting, drying or "curing," processing, and storing. Hayfields do not have to be reseeded each year in the way that grain crops are, but regular fertilizing is usually desirable, and overseeding a field every few years helps increase yield.