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katherineepea
Gold Member
 England
883 Posts |
 Posted - 21 Apr 2007 : 12:08:07 AM
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have just read that alfalfa can contribute to footiness in unshod horses.
mine has been footy since ive been feeding this-changed from the yards molichopp as it has more nutritional value.
i thought he was footy from the sudden hardening of ground but now i just dont know?? and ive got loads of it left as he only gets about a scoop a day! typical!
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Stevie
Silver Member
Spain
267 Posts |
Posted - 21 Apr 2007 : 12:16:55 PM
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Hi
Are you sure the alfalfa is the problem???
Most Laminitic food is based on Alfa alfa,..usually Hi Fi or
Alfa A. or Happy Hoof!!!Look at the other food you give??
Its a great food for all horses...very good for broad mares and foals ,just don't over do it!!!!!
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Edited by - Stevie on 21 Apr 2007 12:19:03 PM |
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katherineepea
Gold Member
England
883 Posts |
Posted - 21 Apr 2007 : 1:40:11 PM
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i would have though the alfalfa to be the least of my feed worries till i read that it has been known to cause footiness.
just wondering if anyone else had heard this thats all? |
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Grey Girl
Platinum Member
England
1554 Posts |
Posted - 21 Apr 2007 : 4:55:21 PM
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Can't think why alfalfa should do this: it's full of calcium and my vet often recommends it for horses with foot problems!
Grey Girl |
 Said the little eohippus, "I´m going to be a HORSE"  |
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Jingo
Platinum Member
United Kingdom
3632 Posts |
Posted - 21 Apr 2007 : 8:37:20 PM
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| Yep we feed lucerne which is high in calcium and great for our mares/youngstock. Never known footy probs from using it. |
Jude
www.auchmillanarabians.org.uk
      
photos:Anthony Reynolds,Sweet,Deano,Real Time Imaging |
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moonfruit
Silver Member
England
475 Posts |
Posted - 21 Apr 2007 : 8:45:34 PM
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I can't remember the science behind it (will find out if anyone's interested) but alfafa can make horses footy, but only some horses react to it.
Katherine - depending on what brand of alfafa you are feeding, it may also be too high in sugar. Simple Systems do a completely unmollassed alfafa (lucerne)If he's been footy for a while can you get your farrier/trimmer to look at him. There are lots of horses with very low grade laminitis at the moment. Have you checked his pulses etc?
I guess you could take him off the alfafa & see how it goes, then you will know if it is the cause. Might be worth adding magnesium to his feed as well. It has had good results with barefoot horses & also on laminitics. My mare is barefoot & also a very good doer, so I treat her as if she were laminitis prone & so far her feet have been great. |
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katherineepea
Gold Member
England
883 Posts |
Posted - 22 Apr 2007 : 03:21:01 AM
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he is seeing the farrier for a trim on monday.
i tried simple systems but he hated it and wouldnt touch it. im taking him off it and its back to yard molichopp tomorrow.
it would explai his footiness recently and all of a sudden-it cant be de to the ground as we do so much road work normally and our bridle path and path to the field is very stony and he's always been fine on it since been barefoot- i hope its the alfalfa anyway
will ask farrier about laminitis also as i have no experience of it |
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lovehorses
Silver Member
England
390 Posts |
Posted - 22 Apr 2007 : 8:50:08 PM
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| I never feed alfalfa anymore as my previous boy (arab) had a BAD reaction to it and dropped weight suddenly and drastically! After lots of vet tests it was discovered to be the alfa-a that I was feeding and I've NEVER used it since! |
Trudi x
trudi.pelham@googlemail.com
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arabic
Platinum Member
England
4562 Posts |
Posted - 23 Apr 2007 : 12:25:02 PM
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Mmm pardon the pun but "food for thought" Perhaps it was the alfafa the caused Freddie's blip at Christmas he has not been fed it before and after all the good reports I changed him to Simple Systems but last winter when I started to increase it, he reacted and this winter was proper poorly and like you Trudi, the vet thought it was the feed.
Katherine, I changed in a bit of a panic to Showshine chaff (chopped oat straw coated with soya oil) and now swear by it. Freddie is a good doer and this was sufficient feed alone through the winter with a broad spec supplement (I added a mug of grass nuts to make it more interesting). Although its made my the manufacturers of mollichaff and does contain a small amount of sugar reduced molasses, its not tacky at all. Smells of cherries which horses are supposed to love and costs me £4 per bag.
Sandie |
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nikki
Platinum Member
Wales
4384 Posts |
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spirit
Gold Member
England
567 Posts |
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sazzlepants71
Platinum Member
United Kingdom
3536 Posts |
Posted - 23 Apr 2007 : 4:06:10 PM
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i have been feeding alfafa for last 10 years... never had any reaction i now feed ( for last 2 yrs) greengold lucerne from SS and my horses cant get enough!
still, some horses dont get the same benefits from a feed as others i guess |
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alistair leslie
Gold Member
England
1036 Posts |
Posted - 23 Apr 2007 : 9:51:56 PM
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Greengold is very good without sweetness added .
It has been suggested that dry hard soil retain too much iron which can irritate the laminea
American study
Ask Simple systems about it .
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blue moon |
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Deboniks
Platinum Member
England
3776 Posts |
Posted - 23 Apr 2007 : 10:23:28 PM
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I used to feed lucern but had to stop because it gave me asthma but also my horse became 'footy' so that's the opposite to some of you.Now I feed Graze On and Top Spec balancer and his feet are much better and he's much slimmer. I thought the company which uses only lucern were the best and I raved about them but it ended up not suiting my horse and I could have built a dry wall with the amount of stones I found in the luci-bix!! I'm also not sure about feeding wet feed.It's a mine feild isn't it!! |
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sazzlepants71
Platinum Member
United Kingdom
3536 Posts |
Posted - 24 Apr 2007 : 09:56:17 AM
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| hiya d, yes i agree i didnt get on with the 'wet stuff' either so i just use the greengold & grass nuts dont need much though as our grass is growing like mad now!!! |
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arabic
Platinum Member
England
4562 Posts |
Posted - 24 Apr 2007 : 9:26:46 PM
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| Another vote here - the "wet stuff" didnt agree so we have chaff and grass nuts |
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