are these people right? am i killing my horse?

[k8_doran]

I put this post see here http://www.newrider.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=146163 on another forum that deals with everything but has a horse section, its not really a forumn but more like ask a question and people answer. I posted the above question, saying i was feeding chaff/alfa (actually was hi-fi origional) in the winter but now on hifi lite and iv been given this answer


"DO NOT GIVE HER ALFALFA alfalfa can kill your horse , she can collic, and also alfalfa is not good for a horse it makes there urine turn red as well as collic. you need to get grass hay to feed your horse and get her off alfalfa as soon as possible before you kill her"


is this true?

[CurlyWurlyRach]

WHAT?!

Alfalfa as in Alpha A fron Dengie? Curly's been fed it for over a year and well...she's looking pretty livley for a corpse.

[Ace87]

All the horses on my yard are on Alfa A, or Alfa A Oil and as far as I know none of them are dead!

[k8_doran]

This is what I thought! Thank god new rider is here, will not be using the other said question site again!

for anyone interested heres what I've been told

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/;_ylc=X3oDMTE1aThkdWZ2BF9TAzIxMTU1MDAxMTgEc2VjA2Fuc19ub3QEc2xrA2Fuc21vcmU-;_ylv=3?qid=20080517101411AA5lQtz

but I will only be taking nr advice, and not using this one again!

[jaydevon]

if it was going to kill your horse, then it would be such a widely used feed, some horses can be more likley to have an allergic reaction to it than other chaffs, but thats it. you are not killing your horse.

[Jessica23]

Stupid people.

Its designed as a horse food so it wouldnt sell too well if it killed horses!!

[*katie*]

Most of the horses at my RS are on alfa a, alfa a oil, or any of the other variations and they're still alive and kicking (ahem 26yo tanking off with people ahem!) there used to be a mare that belonged to one of the RIs who's left now who was allergic to it so obv didn't have it but i've never heard of it doing any damage to horses on a wide scale or anything - i wouldn't worry about it :)!

[StormyJ]

Haha, in all her mind-blowing "13yrs experiance" she's clearly never learnt to spell "experience" :p
Alfa-A has a lot of protein in it which can be a problem for some horses but in general you should be fine!

[karsteine]

ive placed a nice reply to that thread for you, ive never in all the 22yrs ive worked with and owned horse have i heared such a thing like that Jay-devon is right, if it did ever kill a horse when why is it used so much. ive neved had a problem with it for any of the horse's ive had

[jaydevon]

*goes off to check out other thread lol*

[BlueWicked]

i think thats a completely stupid thing to say!

However... alfalfa is not 'designed' for horses to eat (as one poster said) and by that I presume they meant is a natural food for horses - infact, in one sense it probably IS (designed, that is), by money-hungry crop growers at Dengie (who grow alf-alfa;)). I have read that it is metabolised differently than other forages, and after all, horses have evloved to eat grass and hay - not a lucrene crop.

I have also read that some mares can react to it as it IS oestrogenic. Personally Im wary. :)

[Tango<3]

that made me chuckle :) lol.

...Ultimate balencer is AMAZING.

Helps no end, Helps build up muscle, helps feet, gives all the necc nutrients ect... but quite expensive at £30 fir 1kg.

but is worth it :D

[Joyscarer]

I love the first response. Don't feed alfafa but do feed grain :rolleyes:

[karsteine]

I like the last response.........the alfalfa wont kill her but it can damage the liver

[candy-floss]

haha what a giggle...seriously...i wouldnt worry...its meant for horses and all mine are on it and now lookin at the webcam...no dead horseys there!:p

[k8_doran]

thanks everyone :D I knew it wouldnt do anything but you know when like 2 people tell you something...thats just weird! but thank you, thought I'd share that with you and dont ask anyone anything except her on nr!

[Joyscarer]

Oh I don't know. I like it when we get conflicting repsponses. It makes us look that bit harder at why we do what we do and whether it is right so it isn't a bad thing :)

[carthorse]

I wonder if some of the replies are from people in countries where alfalfa hay is fed as a main feed? If so there may be an element of truth in what they're saying as I believe feeding alfalfa as the main forage can cause health problems due to the high protein & calcium levels. Just a thought.

[MelanieD]

Alfalfa is fine for most horses as a little bit in a bucket feed. One of those replies sounds a bit american, wonder if they're thinking of alfalfa hay as a big part of the diet rather than the handful of alfa-a in a bucket. Alfalfa is high protein which I think possibly can be bad for horses that already have liver problems in large amounts. Looks like maybe someone has learnt a few facts about feeding a tonne of alfalfa hay and is overreacting to more sensible use of alfalfa :)

[lauraandharvey]

if shes a good doer
try hifi good doer
they can have as much as that as they want
theres nothing in it :) i feed it to my hw cob
x

[EmsnMaisie]

Haha, thats a good one, my mare should be dead according to them. Her wee isn't red either whilst on the subject.

[rtk]

:D Funny if you live in this country


To be fair, as someone has already mentioned, I have seen some stuff on the dangers of feeding it as instead of hay.

I think its in America (and possibly elsewhere) where in some places you buy bales of it instead of grass hay. According to what I was reading it can kill and people were being advised not to feed it. Obviously they were not talking about the odd scoop or two that we use.

[Midori]

Yes, In the States you can buy Alfalfa hay as well as hay. Alfalfa hay isn't meant to be a horse hay as a main feed, but a little does no harm.

Cheers, midori

[cvb]

could they be thinking of clover ? there are some varieties of clover that are an issue (we don't tend to get that type in the UK as far as I know)

[Joyscarer]

.....doh, posted on the wrong thread!