Haylage & dental health

Study shows: haylage does not cause a drop in pH in the horse’s mouth & therefore no risk of caries.

Haylage is often classified as a potential caries risk for horses due to its lower pH value compared to hay. A recent scientific study now provides new findings on the actual effect of various feedstuffs on the pH value in the horse’s mouth.

In the study by Daniels et al. (2025), the pH value in the mouth was measured directly before and after feeding hay, haylage, unmolassed sugar beet pulp, unmolassed alfalfa pellets and oats. In addition, various haylages were compared with one another.

The result: Only unmolassed sugar beet pulp led to a significant, but only short-term, reduction in pH value. This was fully buffered within 15 minutes by natural saliva production.

In contrast, haylage showed no measurable pH reduction, as saliva effectively neutralised the acids. An increased caries risk due to low pH values is therefore not to be expected when feeding haylage. The study therefore provides an important scientific basis for a differentiated assessment of haylage with regard to horses’ dental health.