So, I was recently told by a breeder that feeding alfalfa is bad to give to a pregnant mare. My mare right now is getting alfalfa and a balanced feed (planned out by a breeder whom the mare is staying with). I was told that if you fed a mare alfalfa it will cause OCD lesions? Never heard of that, and I’ve googled things but just wanted to double check. She’s due end of this month so it really doesn’t matter anymore, but I figured I’d ask for future breeding.
Thanks 
Your friend prescribes to an extremely outdated viewpoint that OCD is caused by over-abundance of protein.
There has been newer research implicating alfalfa with OCD and it has nothing to do with the higher protein content. I will try to find the copy of the study I was given recently.
Alfalfa is fine for broodmares. Just make sure the rest of your ration is balanced (Ca:P ratio particularly). Alfalfa is great for milk; the highest-quality alfalfa goes to dairy farms for milk cows.
However, if you have a fat air-fern mare, she may be better with more grass.
Given the insane number of calories that some mares require, given the huge jump in protein that ALL mares require late in gestation and early in lactation, alfalfa is fantastic. If she can’t take the calories, then you have to get the protein some other way
I agree, alfalfa is great for broodies! The latest research is regarding balance of Calcium and Phosphorous. Alfalfa is very high in Ca, so you’ll need a P balancer. Grains tend to be high in P (oats, etc). So is flax. Or a ration balancer to make things easier!
I never fed any horse solely alfalfa as their forage but I think some alfalfa is mandatory for a mare in late pregnancy and while lactating.
Would you guys feed a ration balancer in addition to, say, tc senior?
[QUOTE=HorseKrazy;7618537]
Would you guys feed a ration balancer in addition to, say, tc senior?[/QUOTE]
Are you saying to feed BOTH and RB & TC senior?
Forage is vital, so you would be thinking along the line of something like 60% good grass hay/20% alfafa and the other 20% via a RB.
If the horse is an easy keeper/air fern type, then you can up the grass to 70%.
If the mare is struggling to keep weight on, you could add cals through another concentrate source (TC Sr. OR add more alfalfa).
The major concern is , as others have said, to balance the Ph. and in older horses sometimes you will see an increase in kidney stones because of the high Ca+ level in alfalfa.
That being said, my area has excellent rich alf. for the same price as grass hay, so alot of people feed it. I’ve seen plenty of horses eat nothing else their whole lives except 2nd cutting alfalfa…some are in their late 20’s/30’s.
I don’t think it does much HARM for the most part, but most horses don’t really need it.
I feed my broodies alf. the last trimester, the whole time they are lactating (till just before weaning) and my foals their entire first 18 mons. That is not ALL they get, and not their only hay source.
But I’m certainly not shy about using it.
Would you guys feed a ration balancer in addition to, say, tc senior?
Read the bag of TC Senior. If your horse isn’t getting the recommended amounts of TC senior (for many grains this is 5-6lbs per 1000lb animal) you may need to add some RB to fill in any protein/vit/mineral gaps. But if your horse is getting 6+lbs of Senior, she’s probably meeting her requirements for maintenance. A nutritionist could provide specific advice for you.
Thanks, I also contacted tc directly about this…there just seem to be so many ways to feed! 
this being my first time I tried to keep it as simple as possible.
I feed mostly orchard grass with a very small amount if alfalfa in it (20/80 at best) roughly 20 lbs. to 24 lbs. a day. I added more alfalfa in the last trimester. So my mare had been getting all she could eat 80/20 blend with a 50/50 (more alfalfa) blend for lunch, and 8 lbs TC senior broken into two meals with loose salt and minerals. She appears to lactate really well and my colt is huge and my mare has maintained her weight - so far. I have talked to the vet and we have backed off her feed a bit. She is now getting 4 lbs. of her TC senior and less hay. My main concern was her keeping her condition because she is 18 and I planned to breed her again. I guess that’s where my concern for proper balance comes in! So, basically the rep said if I wasn’t going to feed .006 per 100 pounds horse weight then adding the rb would be ideal. I think I might just put her back up to the full recommended feeding amount and stop worrying!
Thanks for the info, she isn’t the easiest keeper and isn’t the hardest keeper. She’s a TB, but thicker than most Tb’s. The barn she is at said they are making sure that she has proper calcium and folic acid intake. She is getting fed three times a day, lunch is just some mash they make for extra calories, she is due soon (in 2 weeks!!) and the barn owner wants to make sure that once the baby comes the mare will have enough to produce a lot of milk for the foal.
It was just odd that someone would randomly msg me about my mare eating alfalfa hay. I never heard of such a thing but wanted to double check and make sure I didn’t miss something?
[QUOTE=Rissa515;7619140]
Thanks for the info, she isn’t the easiest keeper and isn’t the hardest keeper. She’s a TB, but thicker than most Tb’s. The barn she is at said they are making sure that she has proper calcium and folic acid intake. She is getting fed three times a day, lunch is just some mash they make for extra calories, she is due soon (in 2 weeks!!) and the barn owner wants to make sure that once the baby comes the mare will have enough to produce a lot of milk for the foal.
It was just odd that someone would randomly msg me about my mare eating alfalfa hay. I never heard of such a thing but wanted to double check and make sure I didn’t miss something?
:)[/QUOTE]
What you are doing sounds good to me. I used alfalfa in my mare’s 3rd trimester and when she had a foal by her side and also fed her Triple Crown Growth and all the grass hay she could eat (until the grass came in, then she was on grass with a little alfalfa).
By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. You may also receive promotional emails from The Chronicle of the Horse. You can opt out at any time.
For Customers
Company
Terms of Use
