I have always been told that alfalfa hay is good to feed to a horse with Ulcers - actually recommended. I have a friend whose coming 4 yr old was suspected to have Ulcers and her vet told her NOT to feed alfalfa - that is was not good for Ulcers. I did a google search and cannot find any recent research to corroborate his view. Has anyone here been told this? I am looking for some kind of evidence to tell her with certainty that her vet is wrong - or maybe I am wrong?
Only thing I can think is if her horse has hindgut ulcers (vs frontgut) in which case I think Alfafa is not recommended. But if it is frontgut ulcers than that goes against everything I’ve ever heard.
I’ve never heard no-alfalfa!
Research studies in horses tend to be small and underwhelming. It is a difficult field in which to get meaningful, in vivo data with decent sample sizes that can be extrapolated. Intervention studies are difficult, time is limited, in a lot of situations the possibility of controlling variables is impossible, epidemiology is spotty… It doesn’t mean small studies should be ignored, but they should be taken for exactly what they are: Better than no data, but not definitive.
I found a few things you could look at, just with a super preliminary/quick search. I used Google Scholar b/c it is quick & easy (but dirty).
This one directly addresses the question - the actual article isn’t easily accessed, but what appears to be the complete thesis on which it was based is here.
Another one, less direct evidence, and older, but some.
This is interesting: European College of Equine Internal Medicine Consensus Statement—Equine Gastric Ulcer Syndrome in Adult Horses It does a good job explaining that there are more distinctions to be made among types of ulcers.
