Do Polish Konik Horses Find Soaked Hay to Be Palatable?

Frequently, equine diseases necessitate the moistening or soaking of hay for the horses. It was assumed that this treatment would not reduce the willingness of the Polish Konik horses with low nutritional requirements to consume the hay. Furthermore, it was believed that moistening would increase the palatability of this feed. The aim of this study was to determine time and frequency parameters and the amount of unconsumed dry, moist, or soaked hay. The research material comprised 12 Polish Konik horses consuming either 1 kg of dry hay, 2.1 kg of moist hay, or 3.3 kg of soaked hay on three subsequent days of the experiment. The following parameters were determined: the time of hay intake, the duration and frequency of pauses in intake, the time of straw intake, the time and frequency of drinking, and the time spent on other activities during a one-hour period following the provision of hay, after which the feed refusals were weighed. An algorithm for assessing the ‘palatability’ of hay was also developed. The experimental time of hay intake ranged from 1261.67 s (moist hay) to 2663.33 s (soaked hay), and the maximum mass of feed refusals ranged from 10.00 g (dry hay) to 343.33 g (soaked hay). No sex-related differences were noted. The time of straw intake did not exceed 60 s. In general, Polish Konik horses were noted to be selective in their feeding habits, as the ‘palatability’ of soaked hay was low at best, that of dry hay was moderate or high, and that of moist hay was very high. The low ‘palatability’ of soaked hay was more evident in the geldings than in the mares. The reduced willingness to consume hay did not contribute to an increase in the straw intake, which is not a substitute for roughage. It is also important to note that different results may be expected in some horses, as the values for the traits examined indicated significant individual variation.