Hay probe...

I know this sounds like one of the first episodes of South Park when Cartman is abducted by aliens and has an anal probe....

Since Sera, my mare, has tied up twice in the past 3 months, we need to have our hay tested to determine is something nutritionally is causing this issue. You stick this hay probe into several bales of hay, it takes a representative sample throughout the entire bale of hay, you put the samples in a baggie, send it in to a lab and they run their tests on it to tell you all the percentages of carbohydrate, protien, minerals etc.

The feed analysis is pretty inexpensive BUT they want to charge you $120 for they hay probe. I just called our feed store and they have one they'll let us borrow one day to take our samples. I've never probed hay before! This is gonna be fun! (yeah, low entertainment threshold that is fo' sho'!)