Jessica DiCostanzo’s embrace of steamed hay came about in a typical manner – she started steaming for one horse with a clear diagnosis, then added more horses to the program after seeing the benefits.

It was Amore who brought Jessica and her White Rose Ranch to the Haygain threshold. The Welsh pony/Thoroughbred-cross had been with the eventing trainer’s Southern California facility for six months without health issues.

Equine respiratory health is a year-round hot topic for Megan Snyder, VMD, in her veterinary practice, Damascus Equine Associates in Mount Airy, MD. She focuses on internal medicine and sports medicine, two broad areas in which respiratory health plays a huge role.

Because respiratory problems often exist before obvious symptoms emerge, Dr. Snyder believes that educating her horse owners is essential to caring for their horses. It’s especially true of her many clients who board their horses at public facilities, and therefore don’t fully control every aspect of their care.

“We don’t steam hay because our horses have problems, we steam their hay to prevent them having problems.” So says world #1 ranked show jumper, Henrik von Eckermann of Sweden.

He and his wife and fellow show jumper, Janika Sprunger, were early adopters of Haygain steaming and consider it a key part of their horses’ care at CYOR Stables. Between them, they have 12 horses at their training base in Kessel, the Netherlands. Their position at the peak of international show jumping sport might conjure visions of having many, many horses but they keep their count small on purpose.