Hay : Sniff before you buy !

[kimthecat]

   I'm very fussy about hay for my guinea Pig. I buy my hay from pet shops and some of it has been poor quality , dusty and smells horrid !

Today , I went to the pet shop inside the local garden centre and poked a finger  through the plastic of  the bags to make a hole and sniffed the hay til I found one   that smelt  sweet .  I expect it looked rather strange but the price of hay is so dear that i didnt care

[Kimmikins]

I wouldn't know what hay is supposed to smell like! What makes a hay a good quality one?

I guess it's similar to people buying fruit and giving the produce a good sniff!

[baileysworkworld]

I use to work with horses. I managed my last yard for 2 years.

Kimthecat is right - Hay should smell sweet and clean, very important for horses, but I am sure it would be just as important for any other animals that are eating or sleeping in it.

Imagine of you opened a bag of dry dog food and it was all dusty and smelled a bit musty - would you think twice before feeding it to your dog?

I could also get into the different types of hay, meadow and seed, and then you've got haylege which is a whole other story!!!!

[kimthecat]

Was that livery yard or riding stables?  You must miss being in the horse world !

 I used to ride my friends welsh ponies.  I visited her last week and she still has Blaze who is 34 years old!

[baileysworkworld]

Hi Kimthecat,

I worked in a riding school when I was a kid, worked at weekends, ran the place on Saturdays.

When I left school I worked in kennels and then was a security guard (don't ask!) for a few years.

Then, when I was about 20(ish!!!) I worked in a different riding schools where I did most of my training. I left there after 2 years as I was bullied (as were other young staff members) really badly.

I then went to a polo and hunter hireling yard where I was for 2 years and where I was when I got Bailey :-) Had the best time on that yard, made some great friends and learnt to be a much better rider than I ever did on the training yard. I left there as they had a staff change and brought in a new manager who I didn't get on with.


I went from there to a western yard which I managed for about a year. Again, had a great time, great employers, great horses, and learnt so much, whole different way of riding and handling. Unfortunately, the owners had a hard year and I had to leave and they couldn't pay me!!!

I then went to my last yard where I was there for 2 years, it was a livery, competition and teaching yard. I enjoyed it there apart from it was a good 45mins drive to and from each day. I managed it and again, it was great until I damaged my hands. This was mainly due to doing a lot of breaking in of youngsters over the years, which I loved and am so proud of the babies I taught to be ridden!!! I think the industry in general had worn me out by that point anyway. As I have since learnt, I am not good at listening when my body says take it easy, so I am not fairly knacked!!


Oh God!! Does it show that I miss my ponies!!!!