My guy is finally on straight hay and no grain

[CindyCRNA]

My 17 hand Holsteiner has always ben a hard keeper. Often up to 8 pounds a day of concentrate, a mash and regular hay. Well I moved to a barn who had a ton of alfalfa and no one used it (the show horses left) so we started my guy on it. He has been on alfalfa for a couple of years but only 1-2 flakes a day. Well we upped him slowly to 7-8 flakes a day of better quality alfalfa than I had . We had also been fighting ulcers so started omeprazole, Outlast and started upping the alfalfa. He was also on Enrich 32 and Ultium. After a week of increased alfalfa he is starting to fill out, so much so we stopped the grain.

I posted his pic on FB and was surprised how many came back and said they did the same thing and it was a miracle. Instead of it making him hotter, he is actually calmer. He has good turnout, often 24 hours as long as the weather is decent and he has a round bale to eat in between feedings. Super happy so far!

[Weezer]

That sounds wonderful!

[CowgirlCoffee]

When I was in college, I boarded at a barn that fed high quality orchard grass and alfalfa hay. Many of the boarders owned OTTBs/Appendix-types that were so called “hard keepers”. Within a couple weeks, every single horse filled out and blossomed. They even had to cut back on the alfalfa on some because they were getting fat! That experience solidified the importance of feeding a high quality forage to horses (and enough of it), which more often than no a challenge at boarding facilities.

[LazyA1]

Could not agree more. High forage (with plenty of alfalfa), and low grain (ration balancer instead) has always worked for me. I live in Texas and refuse to feed coastal bermuda because of the impaction risk, and feed timothy (expensive!) instead. Plus plenty of turnout of course.