Below is a short guide to the various types of fibrous foods that can be given to horses: grazing grass, hay, ensiled foodstuff, straw, molichaff, artificially dried grass, enriched forage and complete foods.

Straw is the stalk of a cereal plant, after the nutrient grain or seed has been removed. Already the growing status of the plant (mature seeds) shows that the noblest nutrients are no longer available. Straw is rich in fiber but poor in energy, proteins and minerals. To be precise, it is not even forage, but a “complementary product of forage” or “forage complement”. Straw is worth mentioning here because it is often included in the feeding with the purpose of being eaten, being used (for example in the traditional meal of army horses) or as a supplement to meals made up by complete fodder (its label often says “leave hay or straw available”). In compound fodder, cut up straw is often one of the ingredients of the blend. In this case “cellulosic products” must be mentioned among the ingredients.

More often than not, straw is used as bedding material. In this case, rather than indicating the quantity, it is worth warning owners of the fact that greedy or stressed horses may eat too much straw – they can consume over 20kg a day.