alf alfa - i often wondered.. calling moody mare owners

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PatchyPony

Guest
Remember a while back i was doing so much research and faffing about feeds? I was convinced alf alfa, even in small amounts was making Tally worse. Even hifi lite has a small amount in and I eventually switched to chaff with no alf alfa in at all.

I read in Your Horse that alf alfa is an 'oestrogenic foodstuff' which can cause an increase in social confidence, similar to what is experienced during a season causing bolshy behaviour!
 
from experiance with my mare, id suggest that it is possible due to the sugar, what else are you feeding? just a thought!
 
I own two Alpha mares and feed Alfalfa, no problem.

As above I find sugar causes more problems, I avoid molasses.
 
dont know about how it affects mares personalitlies but i have just found out (after yet more colic incidents!) that my mare is allergic to alfalfa. ive had to totalyy change her feeding regime and its a nightmare. im constantly phoning feed companies as its in so many feeds i would not expect it to be in and also in supplements.

she is a moody mare so ill let you know if going without it changes her at all!!
 
I posted about this a while ago, my equine chiropractor tipped me off about the behavioural effects of alfalfa when my mare became very aggressive last summer. apparently some horses react to alfalfa the way that some kids react to monosodium glutomate! she said that in her experience alfalfa had been the root cause of alot of the problem horses she had been asked to help with. On her advice i cut all alfalfa out of my mares feed and she has been 100% better. she is not an angel but she is much much better.obviously it doesn't send all horses loopy but its worth bearing in mind if you are having problems.
 
Yep, alfalfa affects my normally sweet, placid mare terribly. She turns extremely grumpy is hard to handle if she's fed any.
I don't put the stuff anywhere near her now!!

S
 
this was just to advise others incase it would help....:) I dont have probs with what im feeding my girls now, and if you dont have a prob with alf alfa then thats cool:) However, I had my suspicions and just thought id post what id read in Your Horse - to be honest I got really fed up with Dengie pushing alf alfa - because they are themselves growers:rolleyes: with the hay shortage this year a lot of companies seem to be using it more and more. i had heard a few folks say it could cause behavioural probs but until I read about it being Oestrogenic I wasnt sure if it was just speculation.
 
PatchyPony said:
Remember a while back i was doing so much research and faffing about feeds? I was convinced alf alfa, even in small amounts was making Tally worse. Even hifi lite has a small amount in and I eventually switched to chaff with no alf alfa in at all.

I read in Your Horse that alf alfa is an 'oestrogenic foodstuff' which can cause an increase in social confidence, similar to what is experienced during a season causing bolshy behaviour!
Click to expand...

Yes, I remember reading that too, wasn't that far back either. I've tried googling it but can't find much evidence for equines - only that which relates to humans. Somebody does an alfalfa-free chaff, there was a post about it on Newrider a while back.

Simple systems do 'justgrass' and 'ruffstuff' using mixed species of flash-dried grass if that's any help.
 
I've got two mares that are total witches on alfalfa, neither one are at all stroppy when in season, the only way I know either of them is in season is the fact they're waving their tail at a gelding :D
 
I now use the horsehage chaffs - herbal chaff, as i found it to be the lowest in sugar, i was using apple chaff but its quite sweet:rolleyes:
 
My two are getting mountains of the stuff at the moment and are fine. Something else to consider is that alfalfa is high in calcium which I gather means it can reduce magnesium uptake from the diet - this can also be the cause of behavioural changes.
 
Do you supplement with magnesium Yann?
I've been wondering whether or not to re-start B on a vit supplement but not sure what, given that alfalfa already has a natural Vit A component.
 
I have the one freak of a pony that was even worse when magnesium was added to alfalfa, one or the other she's obnoxious enough but both together and she's Evil! :eek:
 
I have never noticed this change in mares on alfalfa :confused:

Megan got it nd now Kia gets it fair enough he is a gelding but I havenever noticed a difference

Nikki xxxx
 
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