Hi Jennifer, 

I looked back and saw that we didn't answer your questions on iron.  It might be fairly quick and affordable to test your filtered well water that you soak hay in and the horses drink from.  You could do this regularly, or whenever you think there's a change in the iron in the water.  Also go to our Files area and enter 'iron' into the search box....you will get some more information there.

I understand every situation is different and that in your case maybe leaving a stemmy round bale out 24/7 works best for you and your horses.  There are other ways to keep them busy, too, that you can experiment with if you haven't already, like putting hay out in a small-hole net or a double net, or a hay ball.  It would be worth testing those first cut bales for sugar and starch (the 644 "carb pack" at equi-analytical) if you are feeding them unsoaked.  Just because they are stemmy does not mean they are low in sugar/starch.  Something is driving his insulin up.  It could be the PPID, but I would still make every effort to reduce sugar and starch in his diet.

Equi-Analytical will mail you a hay corer if you can't find one locally.  I think it's just the cost of the postage you pay...

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Kirsten and Shaku (IR) - 2019
Kitimat, BC, Canada
ECIR Group Moderator
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