Either change barns or Scribbler gave you a good option to add calories that is not commercial grain. Its actually my preferred way to feed horses.
Chances are your horse is reacting to the loss of protein with the alfalfa being removed from his diet. Add a ration balancer to the other stuff and see where that gets you.
The Golden Rule of Equine Husbandry is that you give the horse what it needs, when it needs it, and in appropriate quantity and quality.
The standard is āneedā and itās the needs of the horse, not those of the husbandryman, that count.
If a horse is not maintaining weight under a current training regime then you have to look at two things: the training regime and the feeding program. If the training regime is reasonable then you add more feed. Maybe more in volume, maybe more in quality, maybe (indeed likely) a combination of both.
Adding alfalfa can be a good thing. I prefer the pellets to the cubes. They are small and can be fed without special preparation. They can be easily mixed with grains, supplements, etc. They donāt spoil easily (if kept dry) making storage easy.
The compressed alfalfa products are also good in terms of convenience. Some horse donāt like the āhardnessā of the flakes so you have to āfluffā it or they wonāt eat it well. This isnāt common but Iāve seen it once or twice.
The nutrition density of most grains is significantly higher than even the best alfalfa. This will vary from product to product as quality of ingredients vary. If you donāt want to deal with commercial feeds you can always go to straight oats or barley.
It sounds like the barn is very āmechanicalā in their practices. Having run a boarding operation before I understand this tendency and itās not always bad. But if youāre going to meet that āfeed to needā standard the barn may have modify practices. If that happens itās fair for you to pay a premium to obtain special treatment. No free lunch, donāt you know! 
Talk to them and see what theyāll do for you if you pay an extra fee to cover their costs in providing extra service.
Good luck as you go forward.
G.
Do you mean 4lbs of alfalfa cubes dry or wet?
Sounds like your barn is not charging enough to meet their expenses and is cutting care levels instead of raising the board price. Iād think about moving, maybe paying more in board up front for less trouble and extra expense on your part.
Add up how much money you spend over the board costs and consider how much time you spend going to the barn to supplement the provided diet plus the added worry about what happens if you cannot get to the barn.
Is it worth it for lower board rates?
I moved my horse (extra large warmblood) from a barn that fed alfalfa hay to a barn that fed (very nice, large quantities of) grass hay. Iād been feeding him Renew Gold, Alfalfa pellets and rice bran and a vit/min supplement in addition to the alfalfa hay he was getting. Kept on with that program, just upping the quantity of alfalfa pellets. I just couldnāt get the bloom and top line on him that I wanted. Heās been on stall rest and rehab for the best part of a year, so in that time heās been on a ration balancer only with his hay.
Bringing him back into work, he needed more of something, the ration balancer was just not cutting it.
My trainer is a fan of Purina Wellsolve Low Starch, and her horses all look great, so about 3 months ago I caved and started him on it, and I have to say that the difference is quite remarkable. He has really packed on the muscle and top line, and heās much calmer than he was on the alfalfa diet with which I was diligently trying to avoid grain (I know, itās alfalfa based, but it isnāt just alfalfa.)
So yes, we avoid āgrainā and processed feeds with all good intentions, and often with good reason, (for instance, I have one at home that canāt eat soy, so he gets oats, alfalfa and rice bran,) but sometimes, if we are working them, they need something extra.
You could add soaked beet pulp or shreds to his diet.
Both Buckeye and Seminole make great feeds that are great for performance horses. You can call their nutritionists and find out what they recommend for your horse.
Stabilized ground flax seed will put weight on a horse.
Inferior, less expensive hay? Around here, some grass hays (timothy) are the same or more than alfalfa. And I may missed if she said what the grass hay was they switched toā¦ If so, I apologize. But I feed $$$ timothy to my herd, Iām certainly not saving any money :lol:
Looking at the prices it would be more cost effective to buy the whole grains/ ingredients in 50 pound bags from your local feed store ( or other local supplier) and make your own. I do.
OP shared they switched to straight " orchard grass". Now, Iām not sure exactly what that is but Iāve seen it mixed with alfalfa as sort of a filler to stretch the bale out and provide something to keep them busy, The OG Iāve seen is wispy compared to alfalfa or Timothy and doesnāt seem to be the same type grass in Ohio as I saw in Florida and that wasnāt the same as I saw in South Texas.
Regardless, if they were mixing hay varieties before then stopped and the horse is losing weight on the same quantity? Itās not enough. Maybe it just needs more quantity or maybe the nutritional value is not meeting the horses needs. But itās not enough.
[HR][/HR]Is anyone else wondering what the barnās purpose of switching to a straight orchard grass hay was? Iām curious if the motivations were financial, convenience-based, or if there was some nutritional reason.
I just canāt think of any logical reason why this would be of benefit - certainly not from a nutritional standpoint. Healthy variation in grasses is a positive thing and my experience it that horses do enjoy some variety.
The OP did say that the majority of the horses boarded are retired or hardly ridden, so perhaps the alfalfa in the mix was just too rich for them.
But if the barn is going to cater to their retired/hardly ridden clientele and not their actually works for a living and needs the extra calories clientele, then perhaps itās time to find another barn thatās better suited.
I always pay extra to get timothy hay, which I buy and take to the barn, rather than coastal bermuda hay. As someone said above, timothy is $$$.
I have a 23 y,o. gelding who lost some weight a couple of summers ago. I ride him 6 days a week. He is out 24/7 on timothy round bales. which is what grows best in Maine. I chose Blue Seal Performance LS which is high fat, high fiber, 12% protein and low in sugars and starch and is extruded like seniorā¦ He gets a scoop, which is about 3 lbs and it is doing the trick. If I fed the grain the BO provides I would have had to add oil or something else to up the calories. The balance between omega-3 and omega-6 fats is reversed in many oils and oil is messy. The only thing I add is Vit E and biotin in flax meal from HorseTech. Last spring year the vet said he looked the best ever and the horse was 7 when they first met.
There are good grain formulas if you read the ingredients list. One of the other owners has the same situation with a gelding who is 24. The brand name she tried escapes me, I think Nutrena. We compared labels and they are pretty much the same nutritionally with similar ingredients. The Blue Seal is $18 versus $30 so she is planning on switching.
When you combine rice bran, alfalfa, oil and vitamins you are creating your own grain without controlling the nutritional balance. Thatās why I prefer a tailored product and itās a lot more convenient.
Will guarantee is not financial. Orchard is $30 a bale give or take a little in California. Timothy about $23-25. Alfalfa is $13-15.
You have to look at this regionally. Orchard is $18 here in Florida. Timothy is $16. Alfalfa starts at $25 and goes beyond $40. All for ~30-40lb bales. Region matters.
And the OP is in California. Hence my post. And those prices are for 100lb plus bales
Gotcha, I missed where OP stated the region. My bad.
PS: Youāre lucky you pay such a price for 100lb bales of hay! Envious!
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