Horse owners facing hay shortages after dry summer

Horse owners in Western Australia are facing a statewide hay shortage after an unprecedented hot and dry summer.

Swan Valley horse owner Melinda Samways phoned in to Nine's 6PR radio this week explaining she'd been unable to get her usual feed for her two horses.

Samways said she usually had a choice between large rolls or bales at her local stock feeder.

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"That's been rationed down to two bales per person, some will give you four but it varies from stock feeder but there's rationing on the hay now," she said.

Samways said she's also witnessed price gouging in the market.

"Some people might have them stored in a shed, we've seen them advertised for $400," she said.

Despite only having two horses to feed, Samways is concerned about how long the shortages will go on for.

"Some are saying stock will be back to normal by November this year, and then there's a lot of other people saying this will be a 2-3 year problem," she said.

"A 500kg horse needs around 9-10kg of hay a day... it's a big part of their diet.

"It is getting really desperate and I just don't know why people aren't talking about it."

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Western Australia Horse Council chair and equine veterinarian, Dr Kathy Klein, said horses needed to graze up to 22 hours a day.

"Horses are hayburners... they're meant to be grazing and part of that is for their mental health," she told 6PR.

"Their nutritional needs are probably secondary to keeping them happy."

Klein said multiple factors were contributing to the shortages, such as WA's record summer and local stock feeders being left out of the supply chain.

"Most of our commercial farms and thoroughbred breeders have already received their allocation of hay, they already have those contracts in place," she said.

"But for the average horse owner... the local feed supplier stock is quickly running out."