Does anyones horse have trouble with alfalfa ?

Circe

Circe

Well-Known Member
Joined
3 January 2011
Messages
979
Location
Australia
Visit site
Hi
I don't know if its coincidence, but this last week my tb has been a complete pain, and the only thing I can put it down to is that he has been having fibrebeet ( mix of speedibeet and alfalfa ) for the last couple of weeks.
Today when I got on him, it was like he couldn't help himself being an idiot, ultra spooky and feeling really wired. ( you know when you sit there thinking "oh, I wish I wasn't on you at the moment " )
Ive stopped the fibre beet, so Im hoping that he gets back to his normal chilled self pretty quickly.
Im just wondering if anyone else had had problems with alfalfa? or if I've deprived him of his favourite ever food for no reason, ( and he'll still be a p.i.t.a )
Thanks
Kx
 
Alfalfa is high in calcium as I understand it and there needs to be a balance between calcium and magnesium. If he is getting too much calcium it could very well be that he is displaying the symptoms of magnesium deficiency, so you could give him some magnesium oxide to redress the balance while he still has alfalfa. It may be that your grass/hay is borderline Mg deficient anyway and the alfalfa has just tipped him over the edge - Mag Ox isn't expensive so worth trying, you should see an improvement in 10 - 14 days if that is what is happening.
 
I know a lot of people who have trouble with alfalfa. My horse just doesn't like it so that's easy, but others do go a bit loopy on it.
 
JillA said:
Alfalfa is high in calcium as I understand it and there needs to be a balance between calcium and magnesium. If he is getting too much calcium it could very well be that he is displaying the symptoms of magnesium deficiency, so you could give him some magnesium oxide to redress the balance while he still has alfalfa. It may be that your grass/hay is borderline Mg deficient anyway and the alfalfa has just tipped him over the edge - Mag Ox isn't expensive so worth trying, you should see an improvement in 10 - 14 days if that is what is happening.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the replies,
I did start some magnesium oxide as the grazing is quite poor where we are and I know the speedibeet is high in calcium. Maybe I'm not giving him enough?
It does sound, if other people have problems, as if it might be the alfalfa ( for whatever reason )
Its hard to describe, and I"m certainly not making excuses for bad behaviour, but it was almost like he was trying to be good, but couldn't help mucking up. I'm sure he'll be more happy when hes not revved up.
Kx
 
I had to take mine off Alfa as it just blew his brain.Had Ulcers so had it drummed into me that MUST have Alfa-ended up taking him off it as it was a vicious circle-was having to work harder a horse that was just so wound and bottled and stupid all because of a feed.Took him off it and gradually put him onto Mollichaff Calmer and within a week he was back to his usual self.He is not the first that I have known of that cannot take Alfa.
 
fusspot said:
I had to take mine off Alfa as it just blew his brain.Had Ulcers so had it drummed into me that MUST have Alfa-ended up taking him off it as it was a vicious circle-was having to work harder a horse that was just so wound and bottled and stupid all because of a feed.Took him off it and gradually put him onto Mollichaff Calmer and within a week he was back to his usual self.He is not the first that I have known of that cannot take Alfa.
Click to expand...

we had same experience with fig, and he is ok on the mollichaff calmer too :)

CS can have as much alfalfa as he wants, doesnt affect him at all, they are all diff!!!
 
Circe said:
Today when I got on him, it was like he couldn't help himself being an idiot, ultra spooky and feeling really wired.
Click to expand...

Prince33Sp4rkle said:
we had same experience with fig, and he is ok on the mollichaff calmer too :)

CS can have as much alfalfa as he wants, doesnt affect him at all, they are all diff!!!
Click to expand...

:nods:

Sounds how Fig was!!!! Completely wired and zero concentration! He's back to his usual self after cutting the alfa almost completely out (his winergy has a negligible amount in, but he seems ok with that).
 
It seems that if they do react to it, it makes them really hyper.
Looking forward to next week now, when he'll ( hopefully ) be back to normal.
Kx
 
I've another one that loses the plot on too much alfalfa. He seems to cope with chaff that is part alfalfa with other stuff in but pure alfalfa chaffs are a no-go,I did try Winergy but that hotted him up. Gave Saracens Releve a try a few months ago but after several days of increasingly explosive behaviour,culminating in a melt down when a bee flew in front of his face while out hacking I gave up on that as well! I tried the top spec alfalfa a few years ago,just in case it was Alfa a that upset him,but he was so wound up that he was pacing the field when turned out so that got abandoned as well.
 
We have a mare who cannot tolerate even a small amount of alfalfa, we put it down to the phyto-oestrogens in it. She becomes very marish and even more reactive than normal, she is usually a very sharp mare but safe. On alfalfa, it's a case of look out!
 
Pearlsasinger said:
We have a mare who cannot tolerate even a small amount of alfalfa, we put it down to the phyto-oestrogens in it. She becomes very marish and even more reactive than normal, she is usually a very sharp mare but safe. On alfalfa, it's a case of look out!
Click to expand...

Interesting, does it make her seasons worse or is she bad all the time on the alfalfa?
Its unpleasant for us to see the "other side" of them, but it must be unpleasant for them to (presumedly ?) feel so pumped.
kx
 
There are a large number of anecdotes of horses which are shoeless going footie on it too. Probably all connected with an unsettled gut? In the US I understand that alfalfa has been linked with colic. I think that's in a green state though.
 
Alfa brought my mums old horse up in lumps. On my boy it's ok fed in moderation (1-2 scoops if he needs weight gain) but anymore than that it and it makes him gassy, chewy and spooky.
 
Both Alfalfa and mollasses turns my mare into an argumentative cow to ride! Luckily she's a good doer. She gets Allen and Page Cool and Collected and Justchop.
 
cptrayes said:
There are a large number of anecdotes of horses which are shoeless going footie on it too.
Click to expand...

Henry was one of those. It was some years ago, now, but for some reason I tried Alfa-A and within days he was footy. Did a bit of research online and found that other horses had gone footy on it so stopped it straight away. He seemed to be ok on Hi-Fi, but I stopped feeding that as a precaution, only feeding Hi-Fi light in the winter. Since I discovered Saracen slim-chaff he's been completely alfalfa free. Bizarrely, I've never, ever had a problem feeding him molasses, but I don't give a large feed, so that's possibly why!
 
How about trying alfa alfa molasses free might be added sugars and not food.Recently had allen and paige out and they recommend it for tbs Im now going to switch :)
 
My Irish TB is hateful if he has even a small amount of alfalfa. When I was riding him (he's retired now) he was hyper even on Dengie hifi, and these days if he has anything containing even a small amount of alfalfa it makes him very bad tempered with the other horses. I used to use Safe and Sound for him until they started putting alfalfa in it :rolleyes:, and having tried all sorts of feeds he is now happiest on cheap pony nuts soaked for five minutes with no chaff.

Mollasses does not have the same effect and he really liked the mollichaff range but I do try to avoid molasses these days as he hasn't had great feet these last couple of years with loads of abscesses..
 
Im suffering from the effects of alfalfa after coming off after a bucking fit last weekend. My boy was an unexploded bomb after only 2 days on the stuff. Its been binned, but as im too injured to ride at the moment cant tell if he is back to normal yet. He is fed oats and has no problems with that, but turned into a monster on alfalfa
 
mulberrymill said:
Im suffering from the effects of alfalfa after coming off after a bucking fit last weekend. My boy was an unexploded bomb after only 2 days on the stuff. Its been binned, but as im too injured to ride at the moment cant tell if he is back to normal yet. He is fed oats and has no problems with that, but turned into a monster on alfalfa
Click to expand...

I hope you aren't too badly hurt and make a speedy recovery. Hopefully your boy will be back to normal when you're ready to work him again.
My boy is calming down already (2 days after stopping it).
Not feeding it isn't a problem for me, ( jazz doesnt get a hard feed, just chaff and balancer and now speedibeet ) but it seems to be in a lot of feeds as an ingredient.
Kx
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top