I’ve heard that alfalfa isn’t good for metabolic horses. Is this true?
I need get more calcium into them, since my hay has an inverted Ca:P ratio. Ordinarily, I’d go with alfalfa…except two of mine are severely IR and I suspect the other one is IR too.
Two are at pretty good weights, but one is really fat. My hay is about 12% protein, so I think I’m ok on protein.
I had a metabolic pony and he’d get laminitic if he got alfalfa (which I feed to my horses). That’s just my experience though - I don’t have data behind it.
He got grass hay - when it was bad he got soaked and strained grass hay.
I had 2 metabolic ponies and they were just fine on 3-4 lbs of alfalfa a day when the rest of the diet was very low in protein.
Have seen a lot of internet caution, but never have seen it in person. I did know of one horse that got hives when fed alfalfa, so I’m sure that some will have issues. Rather than take the advice of strangers, perhaps you should ask your horse. Try to just change one thing at a time.
Glucose metabolism is very complex. Lots of different places for it to get broken. Don’t assume there is a one size fits all solution.
oh, and trying feeding peppermint Tums as a treat. One of mine liked them.
When my mare was at her worst even timothy/alfalfa hay cubes caused a laminitic episode. At the time she was boarded at an old Dairy Farm - Dairy was gone, fields turned to pastures. Lots of room to roam, but I suspect the grass in the pasture was still heavy with alfalfa as that is what the dairy cows would have thrived on. No amount of “emergency diet” brought her back to a non-laminitic state on a consistent basis so I eventually had to move her. At the time I just thought it was grass period that she couldn’t have, so was pleasantly surprised when she could be turned out on pasture at the next place (it was that constant battle of wanting 24/7 turnout, but not suffering due to grass).
Now she can have alfalfa again. I haven’t been feeding her flakes of pure alfalfa, but she can have the tim/alf cubes and my second cut hay is about 50/50 as well. I have learned a lot about forage and NSC’s and various imbalances. I think when she was at her worst it was just being overloaded with the alfalfa that was the problem.
According to the Yahoo cushings and IR group, alfalfa is safe to feed IF they did well on it before they developed any metabolic symptoms. I had/have experience with several metabolic horses, and they have all done fine on it.
As far as carbohydrates are concerned, alfalfa is the hay with the least carbs, ordinarily. Other good bets are wam season grasses–Bermuda (common), Teff, native warm season grasses. I believe that Timothy is lower in carbs than is Orchard. Avoid Sudan.
People in the past thought that protein was what caused laminitis–and some people still do. If you can, have your hay tested so you’ll know for sure what your horses are getting.
I’ve tested my hay, which is how I know I need more calcium. Protein is 12.3% on a Timothy/orchard grass hay. The calcium is 0.28% and phosphorus is 0.31%.
I never had the two with EMS on alfalfa. I don’t know if my pony got alfalfa before I had her, but I doubt it.
I thought the ECIR group’s position on alfalfa is that any alfalfa is bad for a metabolic horse. But then there are others who say it can be good. I’ve also heard that supplementing calcium can be really difficult, since it’s not very palatable.
Basically, I want to get them on the best feeding program I can…but I don’t want to put them through a bout of laminitis. Just not a big fan of taking chances where my horses’ health is concerned.
For those who’ve had luck with alfalfa…which brand have you used?
Like Katy said, peppermint tums. My horses think they are wonderful as a treat.
I personally wouldn’t feed them alfalfa, since they’re IR and you don’t know if they can handle it without hoof soreness/laminitis/founder or not. You could try adding some molasses-free beet pulp, which has a decent amount of calcium (although not as much as alfalfa).
I fed my EMS horse soaked Tim/alfalfa cubes and he was fine. His insulin always stayed in the high/normal range and he never had a laminitic episode
My severely IR horse is on a prescription to control his insulin. He isn’t allowed to look at the Timothy/alfalfa cube bag, he founders so easy.
His readings initially were “in the outer stratosphere”, to quote the vet. He foundered big time in 2012.
It has taken some serious management to control his insulin. Alfalfa is absolutely verboten for him.
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