Sigh ~~~
 

If the Congress doesn't get their heads out of their backsides.. DH is going to have to take a 20% pay cut. We are just making it as it is, since this side of the country is $$$...

If this happens I might have to sell one of my riding horses.

Good hay is beyond spendy over here...
Will know for sure March 2nd.

Makes me wish we could afford to fence the whole place...
At least a couple of the horse's could do pasture part of the time and that would help with the feed bills.
But because of the loose dogs and busy roads... we have to have a beefy fence put up to make sure they don't get out. Just a couple of lines of wire/tape just won't do. sigh ~~

Your DH must be in the military. Personally I think every individual person in our upper government needs to take a pay cut and how dare they cut the pay of our military men and women!

It sounds like you really do need to invest in a good perimeter fence. They do pay for themselves in the long run especially if it will cut down on your hay bill also.

Carla

I recall you recently quoting the hay price you were paying... here in W. Pa we were dry but still had multiple hay cuttings .... Hay here is $3-4 a bale 40# or so
Too bad you are not closer.

He was in the Navy 20 years, got out in 99 and now he works with the Navy as a Civilian. Has been working for them over 3 years. Sure has put in his time.
What I don't understand is... why does he have to take a pay cut, when his division is raking in the money and they have sooo much work it is crazy!!

We have been trying to get fencing done as we can afford. But if they cut his pay... it will be impossible.

Johnny... man do I wish. If I could go 4 hours away, as you said, there is good hay to be found. But I don't have a full size truck or trailer. By the time I rented all that.. price would be about the same I am having to pay now.
Is scary spendy for everything around here.

Sorry to hear about your problems. I was shocked at the price you quoted you had to pay for hay. I got most of mine 11 bales at a time (the amount my van holds) for $2.50 a bale. Later he raised it to $3.00. I think I got 90 bales total and looks like I will have at least 30 left at the end of the season. I had fencing done last year and boy was it expensive. I had him do goat and sheep wire with all wood posts so it will last for quite some time probably beyond me.

We were cut 5 hours down from 80 every 2 weeks to 75. Gas is 3.70 here and seems like by this summer I wouldn't be surprised if we hit over $4.00.

Seems like everyone is hurting.

Hope you don't have to sell any horses. I know they mean a lot to you.

I'm not in your situation with the traffic and all but I do have a system of rotating the horse through grass around the house where I grow roses and such. The trick is to not let them out long enough to get bored and look for trouble. So I let them into the area for about three hours before their dinner and they are so focused on the grass that in ten years they have not eaten a rose or strawberry. Then I call them in for dinner.
Could you string a hot wire along the road, then make smaller movable paddocks inside that to always have new and lucious grass for them? Also you could keep some in while the others are that the herd instinct would tend to keep them from leaving?
At least they would have to go through two sets of wires to get out.
I admit that my girls are not prone to running through fences and I would not do this in your situation with young or flighty horses.

I feel for you. My husband works with contractors and if the economy is bad, the contractors aren't doing anything and therefore neither is husband. With the cost of hay going up and up, we found homes for the big horses and just have a few Mini's now. A lot easier on the hay bill. Small sq. bales of grass hay here are $6 to $10 a bale. Brome hay is $9 to $11 a bale. Just couldn't afford to feed the big horses any more.

Well, at least he's not in the same boat as a young friend of mine. He's in the service and they aren't paying him at all! His father came by a couple of weeks ago wondering if we had kenneling he could borrow for his son's large dog, as the son is staying at a friend's house. What a disgrace! It makes me SO mad at the shenanigans going on. If you make a contract with a man, then keep it, its bad enough they ask them to risk their lives and their health for what are often illegal wars, but then to refuse to even pay them? Oh man... I can't use the words that come to mind!

What??? That is impossible, having been in the military for 20 years and my DH being in for 27 I can say you are always paid. Usually with direct deposit. There is more to this story.
Alice in Virginia

I'm sorry I don't know the details all that well, but I believe that this young man isn't getting paid, no reason not to believe his father, whom I have known well for a couple of decades. Now, there might be more to the story than I know - that's possible.

Fellini, there may be more to the story.

Bergere, I'm sorry your husband is looking at a huge salary cut. Ouch. That stinks!

It'll get most of the rest of us too, unless you are properly "connected." We have to pay for our governments spending somehow (even the waste) and raising revenue only isn't going to get it. I think the powers that be in Washington, as a general rule, are more interested in their games of politics and feudalism than they are being servants of the people. We all need to remind them that they work for us and kick the lying, deceitful buzzards out of Washington.

Political rant over.

Hope things work out for you Bergere.

Being that I grew up in VA, around horses and hay farmers, I can tell you that you can't always judge a book by it's cover when it comes to our hay. Yes it is pricey compared to some areas but I can get good quality hay for around 4-5 a bale. It may not be pretty but a LOT of farmers around here get their hay tested for protein levels etc, but still don't charge the higher prices. I remember giving you a couple numbers of people closer to you that have good hay that was cheaper than what you paid for. May not be "pretty" but my horses are all fat and happy (OTTBs) and I'm not spending an arm and a leg. :)

Yes, one of those folks did round bales, he had the good hay. But I have no way to transport or move them.I can't free feed mine.
And the other place told me $7.50 a bale, maybe because I am new? But he only had alfalfa/grass hay mix, not much of it left
and it didn't look good. They are still an hour and an hour and change away from me.

I have looked at many, many the farms, within an hour of my place. I am not looking for pretty but I do look for clean hay. Means, No mold and no night shade.
Clean hay means less chance of Vet bills.
And even the Vet who hays her place around here... charges $7.50 a bale... everyone does and they are very small bales.
In Caroline county, that is nearly impossible to find. This is a known problem here.
The one farm I found that had good hay, had all the clients he could handle and didn't need any more.

I used to hay my old Farm, so I know what good hay is.
And from seeing the weight of my airferns.. I have Icelandic's and a mini, I have to feed them much more of the hay in VA than I did in Oregon.
Guess my Oregon grass hay had more nutrients.

This happened to my a few times when DH was in the Navy. Even one time when DH was on the aircraft carrier... new baby and I didn't have money to do anything.
What your friend needs to do, is go to the DOD on the base in his area and talk with them.
That is what DH had to do. Normally its just a paperwork error.

Thanks everyone. Is sooo frustrating...

I worry about just doing hot wire.... normally my horse's are pretty good with fencing.
But they tend to panic when hunters are shooting at them. Not sure the hot wire would hold them or not. Not sure it would hold my two goats either? With this busy road.....
Then if they cut his pay... I wouldn't even be able to afford hot wire.
sigh ~~~

I am sorry Shari
I hope things work out for you. In the last 4 years our income decreased by over 60 %..it has been a rough road.
I sure hope things straighten out for you and yours.

I have a truck and trailer... If you can find hay you want I would be more than happy to help! I've also been playing with the idea of getting a truck load from up north if I can find a good source. I will keep you updated on that if we do decide to do that.

My 3 slightly crazy mares stay well in our fence. It's 3 strands of tape from TSC. We picked up t-posts here and there off crags list and from TSC and it wasn't too horrible! We have hunters, dogs and a road that a lot of loggers use and the girls haven't ran thru the fence yet. Yes I totally just knocked on wood!!

Ouch.... that is really rough. Hope things improve for you.

With us... DH is the only one that can work. So any hit, is a big one.
Everything we have gone through from 08 to now... was hoping things would get better.
Makes a person want to give up sometimes.

If I can find some place close, will take you up on your offer. Thank you!

Mine are super furry, and Maggie is small enough she can slip through a normal 3 strand hot wire. Then there is the goats and sheep.
And here, I have packs of hunting dogs and they always head for the sheep and goats...and when they get bored with them, they go after the horses... which annoys me no end.
So I am also fencing to keep the stupid dogs out.

Last thing I need is more Vet bills because of the morons the run dogs here.

Have you tried supplementing your VA hay with "Source Micronutrients"? It's an inexpensive supplement that may provide what the hay in Virginia is lacking. Oregon pastures have lots of micronutrients due the volcanic soil - VA not so much.... it may help cut down on your feed bill - it sure lowered mine. The grass hay out here (NV) runs $15 - $ 19 per bale for a 110 lbs and anything that will lower the feed bill helps!

Good luck and I really hope things will look up for all of us real soon - this whole economic situation sucks and I'm tired of it - but that's a whole other subject!

I will go look that up. Wish I could get Icelandic Kelp here, I know that helps a lot too.

I brought over some very nice 110lbs of grass hay when I moved. People I have talked to around here, have never heard or seen bales of hay that big. LOL...
Personally I think the 30/35lb ...as my DH calls them, marshmallow fluff.. are a pretty useless size.

Try checking out www.allnaturalhorses.com/kelp.htm for your horses. Source is available through all the equine catalogs and runs about $30 for 5 lbs and lasts me 5 months for 2 horses. I don't feed the recommended dose because I know they get some of the nutrients in their hay already. It has helped an aweful lot. My horses stopped chewing on wood (copper deficiency), have awesome coats and hooves, are fat and happy. They get no grain at all, just a handful of senior that I wet down a bit with water for the supplements to stick (Source, salt and a joint supplement for my older mare). They get about 1.5% of their body weight in hay fed in three small meals over the course of the day to keep them from getting bored.

Marshmallow fluff .... I like that. By BIL lives back east and I can't believe the tiny bales of hay. The only thing good about them is that they are far easier to handle. My back isn't what it used to be......

Mine don't chew or anything like that.
Their hay is in slow feeder bags, because I have one mare that is a vacuum.
This gives the others a chance to eat too.

I do have a loose mineral mix out for them.
Problem will be... if DH's pay is cut, there will be no money for hay or anything else like that.
Have enough hay for the next couple of months....but after that.

We have some fencing material here, but it takes time to get it up and it wasn't what this stuff was slated for..... but they have to eat. All but one mare can go out on the grass. This will help a lot. Just hope DH will have the time to get it up before we run out of hay. :(