Is Hay, soaked hay or haylage best?

Jessey

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Dec 20, 2004
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This study had some really interesting charts even if you aren't into data, it just made it very visual on how feeding dry hay, soaked hay or haylage could have very different impacts, especially if you have a horse suffering with Insulin Dysregulation.

A snip for those not wanting to read all of it; 2 top charts are for an ID pony, bottom ones for a normal pony, showing GI response on the left charts and Insulin on the right ones.
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https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1090023318301011#tbl0010
Given the sample size its not really conclusive yet, but there is some interesting info there and visually descriptive of how a ID horse's reactions to the same stimulus are much greater.
 
I haven't had time to read the article (will save for later) but presumably you want the chart lines to stay as level as possible, so it looks as though soaked hay is a clear winner? Although interesting that the GI index goes up slightly again for soaked hay when for dry and haylage it's going down. Can't wait to read the article now.
 
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The glucose level ideally should remain pretty stable (slow release foods do that best, called low GI in people food), as the body reacts to control glucose levels with insulin you can get a little up/down, its the spike that you want to be minimal. The bigger the spike, the harder crash after (why the black and green lines drop below the blue line). The more of a spike in glucose the more insulin the body kicks out to bring it back down and they (scientists) now think its insulin spikes that cause lami........
 
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I'd be interested to know what type of haylage & hay it was too, I bet that makes a heck of a difference. Interesting graphs though, and I'm sure the article will be an interesting read.
 
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I wonder what, if any, impact the fact that they were fasted first made? Presumably the fasting would also have a greater impact on the ID ponies? I understand it's the only way to get the readings in response to what they've fed, but I wonder if that also colours the response.
 
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I agree, the types of hay/haylage would definitely be of interest. I wouldn't think fasting would increase the response, but a 'normal' baseline from when they are at grass etc would be an interesting comparison point, there is definitely scope for a lot more testing in this area, I hope someone has the money to do it!
 
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