26/10/2026
I was going to do a post on the term "adlib hay," so I started to look up the definition. Which is
"as much and as often as desired".
This made me realize that people are using this term in the correct way. So do we need to change the term, or words used rather than the definition?
Is adlib the correct term to use when describing how much hay should be fed to horses?
The term we at MTL will now be using is "constant access" as I feel this is a better suited term. I shall explain why....
Although we feed low calorie, low sugar, low protein, clean but low nutritional value hay, I still need to make sure our track horses aren't eating too much especially those with weight issues. To help with this I use nets of different sizes holes, and monitor the horses weight visually by "body condition scoring" (BCS). Our horses are never left without hay. However referring back to my initial definition this is not adlib feeding of hay as we are limiting it, but giving constant access.
Is this where horse owners are going wrong? Is this why we are seeing a lot of morbidly obese horses because the wrong term has been used? When I use the term adlib, I take it to mean that my horses have constant access to forage. Not that the horses can eat as much as they want. So from this day forth please can anyone who hears or reads that I've used the term "adlib" correct me as I believe this is NOT the correct term to use when feeding and offering horses forage. The slightly longer term that I will be using is constant access.
Feel free to share and pls discuss. Keep all discussions polite bt id like to hear other people's opinions.
Photos below of some of our constant access hay options. As you can see they are definitely not adlib options.
Thanks Hannah
💯