My late 20s 12 hand pony has Cushings and has been on Pergolide a couple months now. Last year’s grass hay is gone and I’m having a hard time finding any good hay around here that doesn’t have at least some alfalfa in it. Orchard alfalfa mixes are the norm around here. Can I feed him richer hay now that he is on the medication?
NO! Starches and sugars will always be a problem for your horse.
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NO. Not worth the risk.
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Our horse with Cushing’s has been on straight alfalfa for 4 1/2 years now and doing fine.
Why not feed alfalfa alone, if your grasses are too rich in carbohydrates?
Some PPIDers handle alfalfa just fine, some do not–I have one of each. My answer is rinsed-soaked-rinsed beet pulp pellets with timothy pellets mixed in (after final rinse) for the one sensitive to alfalfa along with muzzled pasture time.
“Richer” is a very subjective adjective. It does not have anything to do with sugar/starch/NSC content.
Alfalfa, as a general rule, is lower NSC than grass hays. Most IR horses do fine on some amount, some do not.
Cushing’s horses are not automatically IR.
You can find grass hay that is WAY worse for metabolic horses than alfalfa. You can find alfalfa that is not suitable for some IR horses
Feed the horse in front of you - his stats, conditions, special needs - not what generic variables exist.
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I have had two Cushing’s horses, and we found that both were able to tolerate alfalfa/grass hay without any problem. The nutritional profile of the hay will vary depending on growing/harvesting conditions, and we always test hay so we know what we are feeding and can alter the rest of the feed accordingly.
If you can’t get hay that has already been tested, do your best with what you can get, and test what you get. You may have to soak the hay before feeding it to your pony. Good luck!
