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Is It Okay to Feed Dusty or Moldy Hay
The short answer is no. Even hay that is a bit moldy can cause big problems. Moldy hay contains spores that if inhaled, can cause COPD, a serious respiratory disease in horses that severely limits its ability to breath efficiently. Unfortunately, once the damage is done, there is no way to fix an affected horses lungs.
Some people try to wet the hay, or steam it, but this is ineffective for eliminating the lung damaging spores that will stick to the hay.
And, it doesn’t take long for a horse to be affected. Just a few days on moldy hay, and some horses will begin to cough. One winter of feeding moldy hay can turn an athletic riding or driving horse into a horse that few people will want. Steaming and soaking may help keep down dust that isn’t mold created, but dust itself is still a problem once the hay dries again. A horse that has already got COPD may benefit from soaked or steamed hay, but must never have hay that is dusty with mold spores. Some horses are more sensitive than others, responding to hay dust with vigorous coughing very quickly, while others seem relatively unaffected.
COPD can be treated, but never cured, and the horse lungs will get worse over time. This will happen even faster if the horse is repeatedly fed moldy, dusty hay, or kept in dusty conditions such as a poorly ventilated barn. The drugs used to treat COPD may cause the horse to be barred from some competitions. These drugs will also cost money over the horse’s lifetime-more money that buying new hay will cost.
Mold spores can cause lung damage, but some molds may cause colic or other problems. Some molds produce mycotoxins that can cause refusal to eat, lowered appetite, weight loss, absorption problems, gut irritation, low energy and rarely, death.
If the horse is kept indoors for any part of the day, the problem is compounded with the combination of dusty, ammonia filled stable air and dusty hay. Don’t feed dusty hay, especially if the dust is caused by molds. Molds are usually obvious, if not to your eyes, than to your nose. If your hay doesn’t smell fresh and grassy, but smells sour and fermented, suspect molds.
So don’t feed dusty, moldy hay. Doing so may very negatively affect your horse’s health over its lifetime.
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