What Is Teff Hay for Horses?

when sourcing hay for these types of horses is the starch and sugar content. Oftentimes the term nonstructural carbohydrates will be at the forefront of horse owners minds. NSCs are a calculated value that adds the starch with water soluble carbohydrates WSCs. The general guideline is that the hay should not exceed 12 percent NSCs.
Recently there has been debate among nutritionists about whether NSCs or hydrolysable carbohydrates HCs should be used as the guideline for metabolic horses. HCs are a calculation of the ethanolsoluble carbohydrates ESCs and starch. The difference between ESCs and WSCs is that WSCs include fructans.  The intake of NSCs needs to be controlled in these horses to ensure their glycemic response is not too great and their blood insulin remains controlled. When sugar content is too high in the hay the owner may have to resort to soaking it prior to feeding or for safety reasons purchase a different hay that does meet the recommended guidelines
Nutritional Trends in Differing Forage Species 
When sourcing hay for your horse there are many different forage species that you may hear mentioned. Understanding how the nutritional content generally differs between them can guide your purchasing decisions. As previously mentioned teff is a warmseason grass. Others include bermudagrass switchgrass and modified crabgrass. These species are known to have a higher neutral detergent fibre NDF content and lower NSC content when compared to coolseason grasses and legumes. Examples of popular coolseason grasses include timothy grass orchard grass Kentucky bluegrass bromegrass and tall fescue. These forages also tend to be more fibrous with lower energy and protein but have higher NSC contents which therefore may make them the less ideal choice for easykeepers.
The differences in NSC content between these grasses stem from how they turn carbon dioxide into oxygen and sugar. The plant will either use the C3 or C4 pathway during photosynthesis. This refers to the number of carbon atoms in the first molecule created during the process. Coolseason grasses are C3 therefore the first molecule has three carbon atoms and warmseason grasses are C4. The coolseason grasses such as timothy tend to store more NSCs in the leaves and stem to reserve for energy whereas warmseason grasses like teff tend to be more efficient at utilizing carbohydrates for growth and have less stored in the plant. These differences make the grass species able to thrive in differing environments.
Coolseason grasses will grow