# Palatability or Italian Ryegrass for horses



## haystax (Jul 24, 2010)

How does Italian Ryegrass compare to Orchardgrass in terms of palatability for horses? I planted some into a weak older alfalfa stand with plans to feed it to my beef cows. Then the monsoon hit and I have plenty of cow hay so looking to put the IRG in little bales for horse hay.

Will horses and owners used to Orchard grass accept the IRG?

Thanks


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## gradyjohn (Jul 17, 2012)

That's a double edge sword ... horses might like it and owners don't or vise versa. From my experience with horses rye does not rate top on their list. The sweeter the crop the more they like it. I don't know about Italian rye. I bet it sure beats a snowball.


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## swmnhay (Jun 13, 2008)

I sell some to a horsey person,they eat it or they will starve.

I would rate it rather low for palability with horses also.


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## prairie (Jun 20, 2008)

haystax, it should work just fine, but will typically be higher quality than orchardgrass.

gradyjohn, I am guessing you are referring to winter cereal rye, and not ryegrass.


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## Tx Jim (Jun 30, 2014)

I sell IRG hay to my less picky owners. The key to IRG palatability is similar to all hay which is "stage of maturity".. My horse hay purchasers will tolerate a small % of IRG a lot better than a small % of Bahia in Coastal


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## prairie (Jun 20, 2008)

Stage of maturity shouldn't be a problem when spring planted. A true Italian ryegrass should not head out during that growing season if spring planted. It is like winter wheat, it needs to vernalize over the winter before it will set seed. So if planted in the fall, and it survives winter, it will act like an annual ryegrass and head out. Some varieties sold as Italian are actually hybrids of Italian and annual genetics, and typically have a small percentage of "off type" plants that will head when spring planted. Many Italian ryegrasses on the market are contaminated with annual ryegrass, as it is very expensive to rent and hard to find fields guaranteed to be free of annual ryegrass. Even a 1-2% annual ryegrass contamination looks really bad when it heads out. the only real way for seed companies to check for contamination is to do a grow out test, as it is almost impossible for seed lab techs to tell annual and Italian seed apart. grow out tests are time consuming and very expensive when compared to a typical seed analysis test, so some companies don't do it.

My experience has been that horses love vegitative stage Italian ryegrass, although it is usually way better feed than most horses need.

Have a couple customers who interseed older stands of alfalfa with Green Spirit Italian ryegrass specifically targeting the horse hay market.


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## gradyjohn (Jul 17, 2012)

prairie said:


> haystax, it should work just fine, but will typically be higher quality than orchardgrass.
> gradyjohn, I am guessing you are referring to winter cereal rye, and not ryegrass.


Yes, I was referring to the winter rye we have down here. Bermuda with rye down is not good to horse people. Most rye down here is for winter grazing ... oats or wheat are better especially if you are going to sell it for hay.


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## Tx Jim (Jun 30, 2014)

gradyjohn said:


> .. oats or wheat are better especially if you are going to sell it for hay.


Do you sell wheat hay to horse owners


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## FarmerCline (Oct 12, 2011)

prairie said:


> Stage of maturity shouldn't be a problem when spring planted. A true Italian ryegrass should not head out during that growing season if spring planted. It is like winter wheat, it needs to vernalize over the winter before it will set seed. So if planted in the fall, and it survives winter, it will act like an annual ryegrass and head out. Some varieties sold as Italian are actually hybrids of Italian and annual genetics, and typically have a small percentage of "off type" plants that will head when spring planted. Many Italian ryegrasses on the market are contaminated with annual ryegrass, as it is very expensive to rent and hard to find fields guaranteed to be free of annual ryegrass. Even a 1-2% annual ryegrass contamination looks really bad when it heads out. the only real way for seed companies to check for contamination is to do a grow out test, as it is almost impossible for seed lab techs to tell annual and Italian seed apart. grow out tests are time consuming and very expensive when compared to a typical seed analysis test, so some companies don't do it.
> My experience has been that horses love vegitative stage Italian ryegrass, although it is usually way better feed than most horses need.
> Have a couple customers who interseed older stands of alfalfa with Green Spirit Italian ryegrass specifically targeting the horse hay market.


 Here and in most of the southeast Italian ryegrass is just another name for annual ryegrass. I realize true Italian ryegrass is a little different but down here when you say Italian and annual ryegrass it is the same thing. Here annual ryegrass is not a desired horse feed but that is because is is usually headed out and very mature by the time it is cut.....I'm sure if it were cut before heading it would make good hay.


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## gradyjohn (Jul 17, 2012)

Tx Jim said:


> Do you sell wheat hay to horse owners


Sorry for the confusion. Winter grazing crop and many are bailing instead of combining. Hay is for cows. I don't know of anyone who feeds it to horses. Oat hay, yes. Many horse owners don't take care of their pastures and have to feed all year around.


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

haystax said:


> How does Italian Ryegrass compare to Orchardgrass in terms of palatability for horses? I planted some into a weak older alfalfa stand with plans to feed it to my beef cows. Then the monsoon hit and I have plenty of cow hay so looking to put the IRG in little bales for horse hay.
> 
> Will horses and owners used to Orchard grass accept the IRG?
> 
> Thanks


I think your palatability issues will be more with the horse owners than the horses....here, even the mention of ryegrass causes most noses to upturn. I don't doubt that IRG is higher in protein than Orchard as Orchard is not that high comparatively speaking. But it is about all the protein most horses need...you may still have a better product for the bovine market...and with the high price of beef many operators might be willing to give a little more for their "cow fodder" than they normally would.

Regards, Mike


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## endrow (Dec 15, 2011)

FarmerCline said:


> Here and in most of the southeast Italian ryegrass is just another name for annual ryegrass. I realize true Italian ryegrass is a little different but down here when you say Italian and annual ryegrass it is the same thing. Here annual ryegrass is not a desired horse feed but that is because is is usually headed out and very mature by the time it is cut.....I'm sure if it were cut before heading it would make good hay.


Well said


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## Tx Jim (Jun 30, 2014)

Vol said:


> I think your palatability issues will be more with the horse owners than the horses....here, even the mention of ryegrass causes most noses to upturn.
> 
> Regards, Mike


Most horse owners I sell hay to don't ride their horses so in reality their horses don't require high protein hay. The horses realize this fact better than the OWNERS.


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