So horse is allergic to grass and other feeds

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Slightlyconfused

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Been having these allergic reactions and we have finally, cutting out feed and now grass, got his bloods back and he is positive for grass, don't know which ones yet.

Feed wise he has come up positive/borderline to these

Rice
Corn
Soybean
Oats


He is okay in Barley, wheat, sugar Beets (currently on speedi beet) carrot and apple :/

So can anyone point me in the right direction of feeds without these? Seems every horse feed has these in them :( I'm waiting on a call back from sacren horse feeds and will be ringing Bailey's later.

If he hadn't had ulcers I would have put him on Bailey's number one.

Help :'(
 
I would wait to see what types of grass you can / can't have - assuming then that you may need to find a forage that you can feed and then add something with no fillers in it like forage plus balancer or similar

If you need to add anything else in then it's probably better to add straights as most compoud feeds will probably have 'something' that he shouldn't eat.

Out of interest - what were his symptoms? Do you know where the vet sent the bloods to be tested?
 
Wheels said:
I would wait to see what types of grass you can / can't have - assuming then that you may need to find a forage that you can feed and then add something with no fillers in it like forage plus balancer or similar

If you need to add anything else in then it's probably better to add straights as most compoud feeds will probably have 'something' that he shouldn't eat.

Out of interest - what were his symptoms? Do you know where the vet sent the bloods to be tested?
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He would get sweeping round his face, neck, all over body. The swelling would be burning hot and then he would start twitching his head off to the right.
 
Can he have a hard feed of something like alfalfa pellets, speedi beet and a powdered balanced?

Cool stance copra may be a possibilty?
 
Is it using specific IgE testing on a blood sample?
I know that in people it is advised that you only take positive results as positive when a reaction is also seen in the patient as many of the population are 'sensitised' to certain things without being allergic but this generates the same IgE reaction on test- so you could end up with a whole list of things which aren't actually allergens to the patient.

What is the issue with feeding him straights on his ok list?
 
ester said:
Is it using specific IgE testing on a blood sample?
I know that in people it is advised that you only take positive results as positive when a reaction is also seen in the patient as many of the population are 'sensitised' to certain things without being allergic but this generates the same IgE reaction on test- so you could end up with a whole list of things which aren't actually allergens to the patient.

What is the issue with feeding him straights on his ok list?
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Blood test was taken while he was having a reaction. It was sent to axiom labs and is a IgE test.

He has had ulcers and I have been told that wheat and Barley would affect them and possibly bring them back. Bailey's number one, the cooked cereal meal which is micronised wheat says on it not advised to feed horse with ulcers etc. It's a brilliant not heating conditioning feed as I have used it on my Welsh before.

Some of it was positive over a certain amount others were borderline but recommended at this time to avoid all borderline foods a well to let his system settle.
 
Ah, I applied for a job there once ;).

Yes I can see why you would want to avoid borderline foods for the time being.

What forage do you feed currently?

I'd ditto the possibles mentioned with the beet re alfalfa/coolstance copra/micronised linseed.
I'd definitely go for that option over pre-made mixes.
 
He is on ad-lib hay. Can't have hayledge as it blows his face up like a puffwr fish :D

Thank you.

He was on micronised linseed And alfalfa while reacting so I am.not trying that again as a safety net.

Will see if I can get a sample of the copra to see how he goes

Someone recommended milk powder but I have never heard of it before for horses.
 
a lot of the readymash feeds have milk powder in them but I am not a fan myself.
Interesting he is ok on hay if he is reacting to grasses was my thought. Quite a lot of the grass chaffs are ryegrass only so if that comes up ok that might be a possibility too.
 
Slightlyconfused said:
Our hay is made from mainly Timothy mixes on the yard so I'm hoping i can put him some sort if Timothy grass.
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just to warn you, Timothy is one of the more common grass allergies!, I have one that reacts to it.!

As I am sure you are aware, blood tests are not that specific when it comes to identifying allergies......skin tests are the best for other types of allergies, but for food allergies, the only thing really is to simplify the diet to absolute basics, then challenge the system by reintroducing one item at a time

I have an upper level event horse fed on straights, who has proved (by dietary challenge ) to react to

Timothy grass
apples
rapeseed
soya
green lipped mussel extract
...... amongst others!

you need to be incredibly pedantic about checking labels......most of the chaffs are sprayed with soy or rapeseed
.......some oats are too
......check the grass type used in grass chaffs/nuts

Horse feed manufacturers don't have to list all ingredients, so you may need to ring them to check!

Have fun!.....in spite of knowing all the above, my horse has periodic breakouts....I think caused by some timothy in some bales of hay.....its impossible to totally avoid as it grows wild.
 
I've used milk pellets on my horse and think they made a difference. Just chucked the container out so can't tell you the ingredients. There are two different types, Equivite body builder. I'd try this first, as comes in a small tub. Horsepower/champion milk pellets come in a large bag, and if fed at 500g per day can be used as a balancer.
 
Thanks every one will have a look.

The nice guy in the end of the phone of the copra company if sending me a sample to see how he goes though I have been told it can hot them up?
 
How about using cod liver oil or molasses for extra condition. Might not quite be in fashion feeds but could help. Re the ulcers I wouldn't think that a little bit of molasses would do that much harm?

Would one of the cheap nasty horrid molassed chops be useful as a base to encourage to eat other feeds? My horse for example wouldn't eat sugar beet on it's own but would it it was full of molassed chop!
 
wench said:
How about using cod liver oil or molasses for extra condition. Might not quite be in fashion feeds but could help. Re the ulcers I wouldn't think that a little bit of molasses would do that much harm?

Would one of the cheap nasty horrid molassed chops be useful as a base to encourage to eat other feeds? My horse for example wouldn't eat sugar beet on it's own but would it it was full of molassed chop!
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Molasses up sets his ulcers :( he of going to be a tough one.
 
Well there's still the cod liver oil :)

Farnham do a weight builder. Haven't got a clue what it's in it but might be worth a look!
 
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