I'm in North Carolina and the situation here is sad; many people are selling off whole herds of cows right off the farm (too expensive to transport, too expensive to feed) at very discounted prices, same with horses. I see ads in the local paper and the feed store for good registered horses going under $1,000, and at the auction I attend once a month they are usually below $300!
I knew this was coming and made sure I had alternatives lined up in case I was unable to get either enough hay, or good quality hay. I have thirty acres of burnt grass; I have mowed twice the entire year! We've been waiting for rain, originally planning on seeding fescue blend for next spring, now we'd just like to get enough rain so plant a winter rye to help support the soil and have some forage for the winter, but the longer we go without the wet stuff the likelyhood of this getting done appears to be circling the drain.
So with that said, I looked into complete feeds. My main concern was an active gut, I didn't want to dump a ton of feed down to have my horse's gut stall out 5 to 6 hours later and learned that complete feeds are designed (theoritically) to be digested slower to keep the gut moving. HOWEVER, if you feed it completely without hay you have to feed like 14lbs a day. That's also the only way your horse will get the amount of nutrients listed on the bag, as it is set for the serving size. And that is in addition to whatever grain you may be feeding currently! Well, I just don't feel comfortable giving that to my horse twice a day, but I am switching to Purina's Adult Equine Complete Feed as our pastures continue to dwindle. Other items in my feed room this winter will include alfalfa cubes that will be soaked to expand prior to feeding and the compressed hay you get from your local feed store. My train of thought is: with my steeds being stalled for some portion each day, they will get a majority of their required nutrients and quality forage while they are in and when they are out they are just munching on roughage...
I was lucky that my partner has a friend who is a truck broker and we were able to get hay from New York, but ending cost per bale was $7.50; double what we paid last year. Retail (from the local feed stores) the same hay (literally, we are getting it from the same people out of NY) is going for $10.50 bale. But, we don't have enough storage space for a year's worth of hay for 11 horses. The hay loft is full, and we are changing our office to act as another hay storage area.
We are expected to not really get any significant rain until as late as December, and on the news as water restrictions are now at a level three the only thing they are complaining about is brown lawns, I could scream! Although I live in a Metropolitian area, it has its agricultural spots in the county and that's all there is in the surrounding counties!
Best of luck to everyone; much concern, sympathy and head bobbing goes to all of us here in the south...