STEAMY Stories
Top equestrians lead a clean hay
evolution in equine health & performance.
Wrien By Kim F. Miller
Photos Provided By Haygain
Steamy scenes await those cruising the Winter Equestrian
Festival and Adequan Global Dressage Festival barn aisles
in Wellington, Florida this year. Alas, nothing scandalous! Instead,
it’s Haygain high-temperature hay steamers humming
away to feed the elite equine athletes contending for World
Cup Finals and 2020 Olympic qualifications at these major,
multi-week competition circuits. At the end of each one-hour
steaming cycle, when the thermally-sealed chest is opened, out
wafts steam filled with the enticing scent of fresh, clean hay.
But it’s not the steamy scenes or scent that snared the attention
of Olympic horsemen including McLain Ward, Beezie Madden,
Margie Engle, Lauren Hough and Ashley Holzer.
It’s the clean hay.
Haygain steaming eliminates up to 99% of the dust, mold, bacteria and fungi
found in even top-quality hay. Of course, all of these horsemen buy the very
best hay, but nutrient quality doesn’t equal cleanliness when it comes to this
main source of the horse’s daily diet.
All types of hay start as grass. “Unfortunately, as the grass itself grows,
there are a number of bacteria and fungi that will grow on the plant naturally,”
explains Stephanie Davis, DVM. “As the hay is cut and dried, certain types of
bacteria and fungi will die off but others may thrive in a lower moisture environment.
That is why the drying stage of making hay is so very important. However,
even if the processing of the hay goes exactly to plan, a certain number
of mold spores remain and will inevitably invade your horse’s airway.”
And then there’s dust: the dust inherent in the growing process, plus that
added during harvesting, transportation and storage.
The combined effect of inhaling tiny particles of dust, mold, bacteria and
fungi is irritation and inflammation in the respiratory system’s upper airway and
lungs. That’s why a shocking 80-plus percent of active sporthorses have some
degree of respiratory problem, often without obvious symptoms. Occasional
coughing, reduced recovery times and unexplained poor performance can be
subtle symptoms of compromised respiratory function.
Hence the increasing appearance of Haygain steamers in the barn aisles of
many of the sport’s top stars. Some became steamers to help a horse with a
specific issue and others because of its overall benefits. Along with preventing,
treating or managing respiratory problems, steaming often reduces or
eliminates allergy-related skin conditions. The extra water steaming brings to
the horse’s diet improves digestive function and its good taste entices even the
pickiest steeds to be eager eaters.
STEAMER STORIES
McLain Ward: Olympic, World Equestrian
& World Cup Finals Champion
McLain’s Castle Hill Farm team in New York sought out hay steaming last
summer to help Contagious, the horse with which McLain was selected to
represent the U.S. for the Pan American Games. A relatively new horse in
his string, Contagious was performing at his peak – winning the $208,200
Upperville Classic CSI-4* in early June – even while having some respiratory
challenges.
“He always had a little trouble getting his breath,” explains Lee McKeever,
McLain’s stable manager of 31 years and the FEI’s 2018 Groom of the Year.
“Since getting the steamed hay, his breathing improved a lot: I’d say within five
days of starting on it.”
Contagious is not alone in his respiratory challenges. Research published in
the Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine in the fall of 2018 reported that 88%
of 700-plus active sporthorses participating in a three-year study had some
degree of Inflammatory Airway Disease, aka “Equine Asthma.”
EQUINE Health
Contagious subsequently sustained a minor injury that prevented him
and McLain from going to the Pan Am Games, but not before his response to
steamed hay established its benefits.
Margie & Steve Engle, DVM
Olympic show jumper and leading
sporthorse veterinarian.
The Engles started steaming hay last summer, for one of Margie’s Grand
Prix jumpers who was “allergic to everything,” she reports. That horse
attained optimal breathing and no longer had trouble getting enough
air for show jumping’s rigorous demands. “It has so many benefits
for horses with allergies,” Margie explains. Along with better breathing,
that horse’s allergy-related skin conditions cleared up, too.
Soon, Dr. Engle suggested that all Margie’s horses be fed steamed hay
as an all-around preventative measure for their respiratory health.
Steaming’s cleaning effect is another reassuring benefit for the living legend
show jumper. “It’s so good for getting rid of toxins, dust, bacteria, and the different
weeds that can be in hay but you don’t always see.” Margie is a veteran of
the elite competition circuit governed by the International Equestrian Federation
and its Anti-Doping & Controlled Medications regulations. She notes that hay
steaming is a good way to reduce the risk of unknown substances in hay, which
can come from weeds and other environmental sources. “Because we can’t
always bring our own hay in, this is a good way to get rid of as many things as
we can.”
From a broader veterinary perspective, Dr. Engle sees steamed hay as
helping address the biggest issue facing equine health and performance:
inflammation anywhere in the body. By minimizing the breathable particles in
hay, Haygain helps reduce that in the respiratory tract.
Beezie Madden and Lauren Hough are additional top-ranked American
show jumpers to rely on steamed hay. Many of their contemporaries in the
higher rungs of the international rankings are steamers, too.
Dressage Embrace
While their discipline doesn’t have the obvious flat-out physical exertion of
show jumping or eventing, where hay steaming first took hold in the United
States, dressage riders are embracing its benefits.
Four-time Olympian Ashley Holzer admits to initial skepticism. “Really?” she
wondered when a friend recommended it. “What benefit can come from cooking
hay?”
The suggestion came last summer in response to unexplained troubles with
Havanna 145, a 12-year-old Hanoverian mare who then led Ashley’s string of
2020 Olympic prospects. “We were having a very stressful summer, traveling
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