Menu

Stay in Touch
Sign up for ENews
Subscribe Now

Unlimited access >

Menu

How much alfalfa is too much?

Horse Care
#1

How much alfalfa do you consider to be too much? I know there are some potential side effects of “too much” alfalfa related to kidney, hindgut/GI, liver, and bone density. But I’m curious what constitutes “too much”.

I have a pony who currently is not on any grain because his sensitive stomach cannot handle any complete feed, including RBs. He’s on Vermont blend and the rest of his diet is forage-- grass, grass hay, and alfalfa (for calories and protein).

Currently he gets about 8lbs in alfalfa hay and another 1lbs in pellets as a carrier for his Vermont blend and anything else he might need. Is this too much? He’s in good weight (more on skinny side than too chubby)

#2

What does your horse weight?

#3

Some of mine are on pure 2nd cut alfalfa, some are on a flake to four a day, some are on none - all doing great. Depends on your horse, the quality of alfalfa.

1 Like
#4

Some here feed their cattle working horses free choice alfalfa, but those horses work hard.

If your horse is a bit thin, try feeding him an extra flake?
If he gets fat, cut back some.

Most of our horses have been on alfalfa forever without problems.

3 Likes
#5

i have three older, more thin horses in a lay-up barn overnight every night and those three horses share a roundbale of pasture grass and one entire bale of alfalfa, shared, and fed out in two segments during the day, once per morning and again in the evening. 60#bale, so each horse gets 10 pounds in the am and 10 pounds in the pm.

1 Like
#6

all the other horses, sheep and cattle also get alfalfa. Horses get appx 10 pounds when the temp will be below 20 that night or only 5 pounds each when it will be above that.

#7

All my horses are on free choice alfalfa --the best I can find --it is the same my vet feeds his 60 host mares he uses for embryo transplant . . .

1 Like
#8

There’s alfalfa and alfalfa, too… what cut are you looking at and is it irrigated or dryland?

Third cutting irrigated is great for dairy cows but a bit much unadulterated for most horses.

The pellets are 17% protein.

Most horses I’ve ever had have done well on it as a pure or mixed long stem forage, and it has enabled me to feed less bucket feed.

But, newest family member apparently loses his marbles on too much protein, so I have to watch that.

#9

May I hijack?
Mine are at home, so not asking for myself.

Boarding barn insists on feeding alfalfa/grass mix (60/40 preferred) to horses when they are stalled.
So, most of the day.
Horses are on pasture ~8h, but kept in when it’s too cold (like yesterday’s sunny 40s :unamused:) or raining, snowing, etc.
Pasture is supplemented with “outside” hay - meaning straight grass.
Not a single horse in the barn is in anything that could be considered hard work.
Most are older, ridden for maybe an hour a couple times a week.
Most go from stall to pasture & back daily.
Minis kept there are fat - one 34" weighed on a truck scale (at the Ntl Drive) came in at 346# :persevere:
Grain is a pelleted mix - IIRC, Special K by Tribute.
BO is a former breeder*, so maybe used to feeding broodmares & babies.
*I suspect deceased DH was the brains behind the breeding operation & BO doesn’t/hasn’t bothered to rethink current feed needs.

Is there any reason for feeding any alfalfa to these horses?
BO is constantly scrambling - logistically & financially - to find “suitable” hay.
So eliminating the Speshul hay could be a significant savings.

#10

Thanks all, I need to double check which cutting from BO.

He does well on the alfalfa so it’s less about whether he is happy and comfortable, which he is. And more about whether there are health consequences I should worry about at this level.

He’s 800lbs and 14.1

#11

Out west it’s not uncommon that horses are only fed alfalfa.
Alfalfa got a bad rep but unless your horse has an actual medical issue that would prevent his body from working efficiently, your horse will deal with the excess calcium and protein just fine. As a vet once told me, it just gives them expensive pee.

The worst side effect your horse might experience is getting fat.

8 Likes
#12

When boarding in N CA pretty much alfalfa is all the boarded horses got ( we occasionally had oat hay to mix) and they all did well on it. I was there for 13 years and none of my horses ever had an issue.

It was fed in ample amounts as needed by the individual horse but not free choice. So much depends on the individual horse and their metabolic make up. My current horses would not be good candidates.

#13

Realistically, I don’t consider any set amount to be “too much” unless the horse just doesn’t do well on it. I live in Southern California and that is the default option at any place I’ve looked. Many of the horses I know basically eat straight alfalfa; it is not the most ideal diet but I’ve haven’t met a horse have a medical issue from it (behavioral yes but it isn’t uncommon for some horses to not do well on /X/ hay). My mare has basically had straight alfalfa for the past two years and hasn’t had a problem.

8 lbs of alfalfa in conjunction to how much other forage? On it’s own, 8 lb is roughly 2 flakes of the bales from our area and I wouldn’t consider that a lot. If he’s eating all his food and staying healthy (good weight and attitude) then I’d consider that fine amount.

2 Likes
#14

I’ve not had any issues with free-choice alfalfa for about 10-12 horses and ponies

1 Like
#15

I’ve had my horses on a free choice alfalfa pasture block and had no issues. I did give them an ration balancer meant for an alfalfa heavy diet, as opposed to the general purpose ration balancer they get now.

Some vets say alfalfa can contribute to enteroliths. I’m not sure how much research has been done on the topic as, if this were the case, I would expect to see a lot more TBs with enteroliths.

#16

ARound 30% alfalfa is about the point where you need to start considering mineral balancing from that perspective. Obviously it depends on the grass, and the alfalfa, but that gives you perspective.

It also matters if it’s a growing horse, or endurance horse, as high ca:phos can easily cause DOD issues, and too much Ca in an endurance horse’s diet can start causing real issues during a ride.

Alfalfa does absolutely contribute to enteroliths, but that’s also got other factors such as where it’s grown (SW is a bigger risk), and breed (TBs aren’t in the high risk list)

Adults can tolerate up to about a 6:1 ca:phos ratio as long as there’s enough phosphorous. But it’s not ideal and it’s really best to lower it to at least 4:1, preferably even lower.

It would pay to have a hay analysis to see where you are, so you can balance appropriately.

2 Likes
#17

This. Out west, my horse got 100% alfalfa. It cost more to add in grass hay. She had no problems. Nor did the other horses I knew who had no pasture and ate 100% alfalfa (it was desert, so no grass. Great turnout space, no grass).

He coat was freakishly shiny, which she lost when I moved her east and she was moved to Eastern grass hay. She didn’t recover that coat when moved to East TX and went on mixed grass hay.

3 Likes
#18

I move my horse to an alfalfa only barn in November. She is doing fine. I did have to have them cut her down some but she didn’t gain weight as fast as I thought she would. I weight taped her a little over a week ago and will keep tabs on her girth. Our frozen ground has thawed and she will be back to regular work (no indoor) so will monitor and go back up if she drops weight.

I do feed an alfalfa ration balancer (LMF Super Supplement).

She actually looks better on the alfalfa. Better muscling and she has nice energy when worked. I was a little apprehensive but so far, so good.

Susan

1 Like
#19

30% of diet of 30% of horse’s weight?

It’s a bit hard to tell how much of his diet is alfalfa since he has free choice access to grass hay both in his tall and in pasture via a round bale. In the summer the round bale goes away since there is so much grass.

#20

Sorry, that really wasn’t clear was it! 30% of the forage, so if he’s eating 20lb, then 6-ish of that is pretty good

9lb for a pony is probably at least 50% unless he’s a hefty guy like a many Quarter ponies are.

Without a forage analysis it’s a guess. My guess is this is probably ok, meaning it’s very unlikely there are gross imbalances.

1 Like

Get your Digital Subscription here - only $21.95 / year

Subscribe here
See gift options

Sign up to our monthly newsletter!

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.

Copyright © 2023 The Chronicle of the Horse