What is good hay? How to recognise quality forage

Good hay smells sweet and fresh, has a green-to-golden colour, plenty of leaf, few coarse stems and little dust or mould. But the most important qualities of hay, its sugar, protein and fibre, are invisible. Two bales that look identical can be worlds apart nutritionally.

That's why the only complete answer to “is this good hay?” is a laboratory analysis. Prime Hay tests every batch, so “good” isn't a guess, it's measured.

What you can judge by eye, nose and hand

• Smell: sweet and fresh, never musty, sour or mouldy
• Colour: green to golden; avoid bleached, brown or blackened hay
• Leaf vs stem: plenty of leaf, not thick woody stems (a sign it was cut too late)
• Dust & mould: shake a flake, little dust, no white mould or spore clouds
• Dryness: crisp and dry, never damp or warm

What you can't see, and why it matters most

Sugar (NSC), protein and fibre decide whether hay is safe for a metabolic horse, whether it will hold a horse's condition, and how much concentrate it needs alongside. None of these are visible. A bright, leafy bale can be too high in sugar for a laminitic horse, or too low in protein to maintain topline. Only a lab analysis tells you.

How Prime Hay guarantees quality

Every batch of Prime Hay is laboratory-tested for sugar, protein and fibre, dust-extracted and double-pressed, and consistent from one delivery to the next. A current batch analysis is available on request, so you know exactly what your horse is eating.

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