Side issue, but this is the first year we've had the ponies at home and it's a great eyeopener. I've been working out today how much hay I'll use in a year. Our ponies are natives and are kept on minimal grazing and fed hay all year, with very minimum bucket feed (chaff, vitamins and minerals and garlic). I reckon I'll spend £720 on hay in a year for our three.
At livery, I (and no-one else in the yard) never thought about hay apart from to complain about it. The amount wasted was incredible. Not from Smokey, I must say, 'cos his intake was always restricted and he always cleaned up, but folk would be putting barrow loads in the muck heap - of course the cost was hidden in the weekly bill, so it was "free". No wonder Ken used to have apoplexy about it
Sorry, slightly off topic but it was in my head