Is Alfalfa making my mare loopy?

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willothewisp

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I started to feed my very laid back mare Alfalfa plus oil alongside her normal serving of conditioning cubes about 10 days ago to put a bit of weight on her. She is exercised daily for between an hour and and hour and a half. In the last three days she has turned loopy. She barged out of her stable and broke her bridle and has now taken to rearing in her stable for no apparent reason. It is as if she is on drugs! I have never fed Alfalfa before and only did so on the advice I received to put a bit of weight on. Nothing else has changed in her routine or exercise and I can only think it may be a reaction to the Alfalfa. I have immediately removed it from the diet but does anyone else have experience of this and if so how long did it take for your horse to calm back down?
TIA
 
Some of mine react badly to Alfa, one it makes really itchy and others have been quite spooky and very reactive to ride . After taking them off it they have soon gone back to their normal temperament. I always use micro linseed now if weight gain needed.
 
Probably!

We had one, an Appaloosa mare, who couldn't tolerate it at all. She became practically unrideable, very jumpy and difficult to handle - completely out of character. She reacted to it quite quickly and also, fortunately calmed down within a few days, when the alfalfa was removed from her diet. We fed linseed/speedibeet instead.
 
Thanks for the replies. Poor girl just looks wired when being handled. God bless her she is managing to hold it together in the school. We have taken her off it as of tonight and our trainer advised to turn her out over night to allow her to chill (she trashed her bed last night). Hopefully it will be out of her system in the next day or so and I get my angelic mare back. Lesson learned!
 
My tb didn't get on with alfalfa at all. Sent him loopy, but it was like he couldn't stop himself. I tried cutting it down, but in the end I had to take him off it completely.
It took a week to get it out of his system, and get back to normal, so don't be surprised if it takes your mare a few days until she settles.
Kx
 
Thanks Circe, I have spoken to the YO and told him to expect that. Fortunately I am on a great yard with professional staff who will cope whilst she gets it out of her system. She was so good in schooling last night but back in her box she was kicking the door which is not like her. We turned her out last night with a pal so hopefully she will start chilling down. Cant wait to get my girl back!
 
My Appy too! Completely barking, like a different horse, and he was only getting 100g a day in a mix I was using.
 
How long did it take after you withdrew it before you saw your boy calming down? I took it off her 24 hours ago and hoping we will start to see a change sooner rather than later as she is normally handled by my 12 year old son but is too unpredictable a the moment? Thanks!
 
Thank you for your help. She is much, much calmer today after being off it for over 24 hours. Happier and getting back to her chilled pre Alfalfa incident, just feel very guilty now that I blew her brain!
 
Don't feel guilty, these things are trial and error sometimes!

IT doesn't make mine mental, but it does make one of mine VERY itchy. He was a different pony once i worked it out!
 
willothewisp said:
Thank you for your help. She is much, much calmer today after being off it for over 24 hours. Happier and getting back to her chilled pre Alfalfa incident, just feel very guilty now that I blew her brain!
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Isn't it peculiar? Until I had one, I thought people must be exaggerating!!

Glad she's getting her brain back.
 
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