High hay prices 'leaving horses malnourished'

The rising price of hay has lead to an increasing number of malnourished horses, it is claimed.

Rachel Jenkinson, welfare manager at Lincolnshire-based rescue charity Bransby Horses, said it had received an "unprecedented" number of calls to help animals in need.

Hay is grass that has been dried over the summer months to use as winter animal feed. Due to the drought in summer 2025, less hay was made causing the price to rise.

According to the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board, a large bale of hay cost £73 per tonne in December 2024. The same bale would now cost £131 per tonne.

Jenkinson, whose charity has more than 220 animals in its care, said it saw a "shocking" increase in the number of malnourished horses staggering through their gates during 2025.

She said many horses had lost weight during a dry summer, which caused a reduction in fresh grazing grass. The charity feared hikes in hay prices would have a further impact this winter.

Jenkinson added: "We are seeing a high increase in the amount of thin, poor body condition horses that we have not seen for many years."

Owners in other parts of the UK are also noticing the effects of the shortage of hay this winter.

Sarah Plumb, from Aberdeenshire, said her nine acres of land usually yields more than enough hay to feed her five horses.

She said: "It looks like we are going to have to buy hay - something we don't usually have to do.

"It's all down to the exceptionally dry summer last year."

Melanie Watson, the owner of a stables in Skidby, East Yorkshire, said the hikes were having an "enormous effect" on businesses.

They provide board and lodgings for four horses as well as her own and said the cost of hay bales had increased while the size had reduced.

"People are panicking, they can't get it [hay]. Even the suppliers are running out," said Watson.

Another small livery in East Yorkshire described sourcing hay as "chaos" and said some businesses could not afford to make large orders from merchants.

The family, which asked the BBC not to name them for fear they may lose customers, described how yards are using social media to "borrow" feed from each other.

"It is the worst I have ever known it in 20 years," said the owner.

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