Protein supplement for horse allergic to soy and alfalfa

[DIR]

Hi,

I think I finally have figured out my horse! No alfalfa, no soy. She has been aggressively treated for asthma, nebulizer, Zyrtec, allergy shots and it’s the food elimination that finally seemed to make the difference. So…in the summer she’s fine with grass/vitamin mineral diet. In the winter on steamed hay I worry about the protein content, given studies that say steaming lowers digestible protein content. I’ve been researching options like tri-amino but wondering if anyone has dug into this?

[Old_Mac_Donald]

I feed this. It is 30% protein.
Extru Lupins (Mitavite) - Equine Nutrition Analysis | Feed Bank (madbarn.com)

[sherian]

ground field peas are a popular feed here, though will depend on whether she’s allergic to legumes or just soy?

[JB]

what are you feeding now, and how did you decide it’s alfalfa and soy she’s allergic to? Did you eliminate each one, by themselves? That can be hard to do, so I’m just curious

Split peas are an option, though not cheap. Lupins are a good source too, but not sure if they’re easily available in the US (and don’t know where you are)

Do you have enough hay to get it tested? You could test pre- and post-steamed samples to see what’s what

A forage balancer + grass hay pellets (+ a fat supplement if needed) can do a good job for horses who don’t need extraordinary levels of calories

Tri-Amino and similar are just amino acids, not crude protein

[DIR]

JB - I did an elimination diet, cut out all alfalfa for 90 days it seemed to help some. She was positive both from a blood and skin allergy test perspective, but vets treating her felt that wasn’t very predictive. I then pulled her off soy and after 4 weeks saw a huge change even while they were cutting farm fields around us which has caused scary issues the last 2 years. At this point she gets soaked Teff pellets with platinum performance GI + EO3. No other supplements and no horse cookies because nearly everything has one or the other in it. I have not added anything back to confirm, but I have a horse who can canter under saddle for the first time in 2 years so I am reluctant to mess with anything. Hopefully I can back off the ipratropium and budesonide this week after it frosts.

I’ve been looking at madbarn options and pea protein, but given this poor girl seems allergic to the whole world, I was wondering if straight amino acids would be safer?

[JB]

Yeah, blood testing for food allergies is highly unreliable. Elimination diets are the best for sure, as long as you can eliminate things individually, or eliminate in groups (like alfalfa and soy are often both present in feeds) and then add back individually (alfalfa pellets, soybean meal, etc)

Amino acids are definitely a requirement, but not going to help if the overall diet is low in crude protein. If she has issues with legumes in general, then lentils and peas aren’t likely going to go over well.

You could look into whey isolate protein, it’s what a lot of PSSM2 horses have to use in order to get protein levels higher without all the calories from alfalfa/soy/etc.

[Jackie_Cochran]

If you are not showing there is an alternative–Hemp Seed Powder.

It has all the essential amino acids in it including lysine, plus hemp seeds have gamma linoleic acid which acts as an anti-inflammatory.

I used it on an elderly, arthritic Arabian mare. Her coat improved greatly and her hooves got stronger, and her joints did not seem as ouchy when I used it on her. With exercise her muscles got bigger than they had without the hemp powder with the same amount of work, 30 minute rides twice a week.

Of course I just started with a pinch over her feed, gradually increasing to a 1 ounce scoop once a day.

You might want to wet the feed some so it won’t all fall down to the bottom of the bucket.

I bought it at health food stores.

[Ghazzu]

@JB

You could look into whey isolate protein,

You beat me to it.

[lenapesadie]

Not a supplement, but the Purina Omega Match ration balancer is free from soy and alfalfa

[DIR]

Thank you everyone for the great suggestions. If the omega match turns up in stock somewhere I may try it, whey protein isolate meanwhile looks like a it’s worth a shot.