Dengie Alfa-Beet

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vicksey

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Posting on behalf of a friend with a stressy, highly strung TB ex racer, currently on calm and condition, chaff with a calmer in and magic calmer and ad lib hay and plenty of turnout. Doesn’t hold weight well at all and is very sharp, forward and stressy. So in preparation for winter she has introduced Dengie Alfa-Beet and over the past week, her horse seems to have got more excitable and whizzy and stressy, and not enjoyable to ride at times, even our instructor was surprised with him at the weekend.

Not blaming the Alfa-Beet but just wondered if anyone has experienced a change in behaviour when feeding Alfa-Beet, I feel bad as I recommended it as my horse did very well on it last year. She has thought about moving him to simple systems but he is so fussy she was worried he may not eat it. Any suggestions?
 
Hiya - there is a fantastic feed called show mix made by balanced horse feeds. it's pre-mixed to perfection so no fuss or measuring or extra vitamins/oils/etc etc, maintains weight and condition without the fizz (trust me, it works, i have a thoroughbred who is so laid back now he's almost horizontal and both my arab and warmblood keep their weight beautifully throughout the winter on it.

i would honestly recommend she tries it www.balancedhorsefeeds.co.uk

Good luck :)
 
Not an uncommon reation some horses really don't get on with alpha A - there was a post about a mare getting ulcers from it and manifested as a grumpy ned that didn't want to leave the yard - others have alergic reactions showing skin bumps and others get really fizzy !

A lot of people really like linseed as a conditioner. I like plain old speedi beet but my girl doesn't take much topping up.
 
Those balance horse feeds look really good ! I now my supplier buys from Youngs and it shows them as a stockist - I might try a bag of their oldies mix !

OP the High fiber competition mix looks really good
 
My TB mare could be quite highly strung. I took the alfa out of her diet and she is fine now. I fed her Readymash extra by Rowen and Barbary when she was in work and she blossomed on it. I would recommend it if the horse is in work, but if not in work, then something like fast fibre by Allen and Page - plenty of it. Add some linseed for weight gain.
 
Has your friend tried removing sugar/molasses completely from her horses diet? If the horse is sugar intolerant, this is an absolute miracle worker - overnight transformation stuff. This could be the reason why her horse can't keep weight on.

I've never tried Alfa Beet, I used to feed the Fibre Beet version (made by speedibeet manufacturers) until they started adding molasses to it, then I stopped.
 
My TB can't tolerate pure alfalfa chaffs,ones that are part alfalfa seem to suit him. He's very fussy & I tried simple systems( before I
twigged that alfalfa affects him!) he hated it & couldn't cope with the vast amounts they recommend! I had him on calm & condition for years but it did nothing weight wise & I think it hotted him up. Ready mash extra & copra have also been tried &
rejected as they sent him nuts! He now has adlib haylage,spillers conditioning fibre,speedibeet,linseed,pink
powder & top spec cool cubes-maintains his weight & is fairly sane on this!
 
Ladylina83 said:
Not an uncommon reation some horses really don't get on with alpha A - there was a post about a mare getting ulcers from it and manifested as a grumpy ned that didn't want to leave the yard - others have alergic reactions showing skin bumps and others get really fizzy !

A lot of people really like linseed as a conditioner. I like plain old speedi beet but my girl doesn't take much topping up.
Click to expand...

I just had the vet out yesterday...my mare is on box rest and I reintroduced Alfa A to her diet the other day, having been off it for over a year. She had massive bumps on her neck and flanks...I've never seen anything like it! She's on ReadiGrass, HiFi, SpeediBeet, and micronised linseed. I added the Alfa A and reduced the ReadiGrass, but now I'm a bit wary about the AA. Could they gave changed the formula? Seems a pretty straightforward mix: alfalfa and low molasses. Perhaps the molasses concentration has been altered? Any ideas?
 
Why did you change ? Its really quite high energy so I would more likely take it out and put in something redi grass ! If she's reacted stop feeding it . It could be she's has been ok with it when in work before as she's used it but standing in she's can't, if that makes sense
 
Sorry can't edit

Or is she on box rest because of the bumps ?

Google it this is actually quite common, I hope shes ok , must be very worrying x
 
Alfa beet made my mare incredibly fizzy and she became very difficult to hack out. Took her off it 4 weeks ago and she is now in Allen and Page fast fibre and ride and relax. Have now got my lovely calm girl back! She looks great on it too, she doesn't keep weight well but since changing to this she has gained weight. Can't rate it enough :)
 
Ladylina83: She's an 18h1" Shire and has never been in work. She's got arthritic changes in 2 pastern joints. She had a steroid injection in her right fore and is due to have one in her left hind next week. She was going through a bad patch and even had slightly elevated digital pulses. So, we put her on a very deep bed and vet suggested cutting the ReadiGrass, which she was on, and adding the Alfa A. In years past AA was a staple of my horses' diet. To see the bumps on her neck was quite startling. I've decreased the amount of AA to barely a half a scoop and she seems better now.
 
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