08/28/2026
🐴🔥 LET’S TALK ABOUT HAY & HORSES IN THIS EXTREME HEAT! 🔥🐴
Something has really been on my mind lately, and the more I research it, the more interesting it gets.
We all know that hay is like a little furnace for a horse in the winter. ❄️🔥
Horses digest fiber through microbial fermentation in the cecum and large intestine, and that digestive process produces heat. This is one of the reasons forage is so important for helping horses maintain body temperature during colder weather.
But here’s the question…
What happens when we go from winter temperatures to EXTREME summer heat? ☀️🔥
Could that same “furnace” effect be one of the reasons we see horses naturally eating less hay when temperatures get brutally hot?
According to equine nutrition resources, horses do tend to reduce their forage intake during hot periods because digesting high-fiber forage generates more body heat.
And when you really think about it…
A horse’s body is already working overtime trying to cool itself through sweating and increased respiration. Horses can lose significant amounts of water through sweat in hot conditions, which makes hydration incredibly important.
So when your horse stands there in 95°+ heat and looks at that pile of hay like:
“Nope. Not today.” 😂🐴
Maybe they’re not simply being picky.
Maybe their body is saying:
“I don’t need to turn the furnace up any higher right now!” 🔥🤣
NOW… I’m not saying horses should simply stop eating forage. Horses are designed to eat forage throughout the day, and maintaining adequate forage intake is important for digestive health.
But I think there’s a really interesting conversation here about HOW we manage forage during extreme heat.
🌡️ Do you notice your horses eating less hay when temperatures get extremely high?
🌾 Do they seem to eat more during the cooler nighttime hours?
💧 Do you notice their water consumption increasing while hay consumption decreases?
🐴 Do you think their bodies are instinctively adjusting their forage intake to help manage their internal heat load?
And here’s another question…
Are our horses communicating something to us through their eating patterns that we sometimes overlook?
I would LOVE to hear what you’re seeing with your horses.
Because sometimes I think we spend so much time telling our animals what they should be doing that we forget to watch what they’re actually telling us. ❤️🐴
WHAT ARE YOU SEEING WITH YOUR HORSES IN THIS HEAT?
Let’s talk about it. 👇