This message is from: Vivian Creigh <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> When I was in Aiken training with Larry Poulin for 5 weeks the farm where he was located fed round bales, in fact round bales were fed at nearly every farm I went to. I had misgivings about putting round bales in with my three Fjord mares because of the threat of botulism as well as the image of Fjords looking like engorged ticks. I originally was buying small square bales from local feed store but that only lasted 3 days as the price comparison made feeding round bales much more attractive.
The bales were kept under cover on pallets and once you peeled the outer layer the hay was green and sweet smelling. The vet down there ssaid that most people did not vaccinate for botulism as it apparently wasn't a problem. I'm relieved that I didn't make her a liar. I really think that because of the sandy soil having free access to hay at all times helped keep them from ingesting too much sand while browsing. I did feed them pysillium(sp). to prevent sand colic. It was really rather amusing to see the threee of them standing around a small mountain of hay like three Norwegian girls at an all you can eat buffet, but they didn't eat all day and they were all being worked quite hard. So I came back home with sleek well muscled ponies who I'm sure are wondering why the buffet is closed. I have to say that it worked really well for me and the mares have never looked better. My vet was totally impressed yesterday when she came out to do spring shots on the remaining horses. I'm not sure this would have been the case with ponies that weren't in hard work. Vivian Creigh Springfield, VT 26 degrees and sunny
