However, good quality, dry hay can be made during the spring and fall periods. Sand ingestion can be a cause of colic in horses in Florida. This is usually an intermittent, mild colic, but may become severe if sand forms an impaction in the intestines. Sand ingestion can result from feeding hay and other feedstuffs on sandy ground, overgrazed pastures, or use of dirty feed bunks. This can be prevented by feeding adequate amounts of good, clean hay in racks and keeping feed bunks free of sand and other debris.
Many grasses grown in Florida make good hay for horses.
Florakirk' and Tifton 85' bermudagrasses are similar in quality to Coastal' bermudagrass hay successfully fed by thousands of Florida horse owners for years. Stargrass has a slightly coarser stem than bermudagrass, but makes good hay for horses.