# Alfalfa for weight gain?



## riccil0ve (Mar 28, 2009)

I'm not really sure what your question is......

I feed my mare alfalfa hay in the winter, because it's richer than grass hay and since she isn't getting as much pasture. During the summer, she gets grass hay morning and night and alfalfa pellets at night.

I don't think when you feed the alfalfa is all that important. However, if you're worried about it making him "hot" I guess you could give it to him in the morning, so long as he has a pasture to play in all day. I personally haven't had a problem with "hotness" combined with the alfalfa, even an old OTTB I used to work with. As long as he was excercised regularly and had a lot of turn out, he was fine.


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## rosie9r (Dec 1, 2008)

He does not have a pasture to play in, he does not get turn out til the evening after I get off work. The theory (I was told) about feeding him alfalfa at night was so that he felt more full over night...but he has free choice bermuda anyway so Im not sure that even matters.


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## nldiaz66 (Jul 27, 2008)

I was kinda wondering the same thing, morning or night.I feed my horse soaked alfafia in the evening along with his regular feed and in the morning he gets calf manna with his regular feed, so I dont really think it makes a differents, I have had him about 2 months and he has put on about 100 lbs.I dont have a spirited horse either, he is nice and calm


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## Peggysue (Mar 29, 2008)

Refresh me here what is his total diet besides free choice hay??

if I was going to feed it once a day I would give it to him in his stall  whenever that may be .. I like to divide everything up into two feedings ..


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## kitten_Val (Apr 25, 2007)

I actually prefer lots of hay to alfalfa. Correct me if I'm wrong but I was told by several people that too much alfalfa may cause diarrhea. So I rather give them lots of hay to munch and keep themself occupied then little alfalfa. As for getting weight, both my horses came underweight (especially paint), and in couple month on good free choice hay they picked up all weight back (they are young though).


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## rosie9r (Dec 1, 2008)

*Peggysue*-- Dean gets free choice Bermuda, 5 lbs Ultium, 5 lbs beet pulp, 2 cups rice bran oil, free access to salt lick, and a probiotic daily. Teeth were floated on Friday, worm free culture, no ulcers, blood is clear. Everything he gets now is divided up into 2 feedings.

I guess what I was wondering was if feeding him alfalfa would make a difference in his calorie intake or not. He gets free choice bermuda now, but i have also been being told bermuda has no nutritional content sooo ??


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## Solon (May 11, 2008)

There are better things out there than alfalfa for weight gain. Peggy will know, I've seen her mention various things on another forum.


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## Peggysue (Mar 29, 2008)

I would put the horse on Beet Pulp first before adding in alfalfa.. calories about the same and much safer


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## rosie9r (Dec 1, 2008)

Alrighty, I will just leave him on his beet pulp then. Thanks Peggy, you came thru for me before when I first got him and he has gained a lot since then.


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## eventerdrew (Mar 13, 2009)

When I was trying to put weight on my rescue horse, I fed him half a scoop of Alfalfa Pellets along with Omolene 200. I think the Alfalfa pellets did wonders so I'm sure the hay form would do the same. But it's not the best in my opinion. If you want him to gain weight, I recommend Purina's Amplify supplement. It is formulated for hard keepers and horses that don't gain weight easily. My mare is on that plus Ultium and flax seed twice a day.


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## kchfuller (Feb 1, 2008)

we feed the alfalfa in the am and grass at night so that if anything was to happen b/c of the "richer" feed we would see it ... also sometimes alfalfa make the Tb's a little hotter  I agree with the beet pulp.

would you say Dean is a hard keeper? If he is on free choice hay that should put some weight on unless he decided that he doesn't want that... i have a QH who just doesn't want any more grass mixture hay but if you put alfalfa in his stall he will eat it- but then I have a OTTB who is an easy keeper, she eats it all and isn't lacking any weight lol

good luck!


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## rosie9r (Dec 1, 2008)

He is the hardest keeper I have ever owned.  He will eat as much bermuda as I give him unless he decides to pee on it grrrr but we have a hay net now because of that. Talking about ****ing your money away 

We used alfalfa pellets for a while, but I never saw any difference so I just stuck with beet pulp. It has really worked well on his topline, he just has these pesky ribs still sticking out. 

Get this, someone told me to let him free feed oatmo to put on weight. Riight, because everyone wants a foundered horse. 

What about using Cool Calories?


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## TrueColours (Apr 25, 2009)

Whats the fat content of the Ultium?

When Ive needed to put weight on, I will go with either Buckeye Trifecta which offers "cool" calories @ 14% fat and Ive also had luck with Masterfeeds Finishing Touch which is 18% fat

Past a certain point though, you cant stuff any more fat into them as they will simply back off their feed

I have never had much luck with BP to be honest. Its high fibre but low fat. I'd almost be inclined to go to a nightly feed and get the fat content up instead

Also - if you up the protein via alfalfa pellets, you will then have LOTS of very expensive urine to muck out as the higher protein in the alfalfa = more urine output ... :wink: And higher protein does not equal weight gain either - whatever they dont need will simply be peed out each day ...


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## Peggysue (Mar 29, 2008)

You can increase the beet pulp up to about 8lbs


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## TrueColours (Apr 25, 2009)

Sorry - I will respectfully disagree on increasing the BP to 8 lbs a day unless it is being split into 3 feedings

A horse's stomach can only hold 5 lbs at a time, so if you have 4 lbs of BP in there, plus 2.5 lbs of Ultium, the BP is going to push the Ultium out of there quicker than it can be digested and absorbed

And BP has no fat content - just high suger - so I am still puzzled as to why THAT would be increased and not the fat content when the OP is trying to put weight on this horse??? :?


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## Peggysue (Mar 29, 2008)

beet pulp is fiber!! not far and honestly sugar starch content is very LOW on it 
NSC on Beet pulp is 11%

he is already getting 2 cups of rice bran oil which IMO is pushing the upper limits on fat if not over what should be feed


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## luvs2ride1979 (Nov 9, 2007)

rosie9r said:


> Is it better to feed alfalfa and night or in the morning if you are putting weight on a horse? I was told to put him on alfalfa to up his protein content...
> 
> Peggysue, are you out there?? hehe
> 
> ...


If he's hot, I'd take him OFF the Ultium. It made my TBxArab gelding high as a KITE! Instead, I'd have him on the beet pulp plus 3-5 lbs of Alfalfa pellets, 1 cup rice bran oil (2 cups is a bit much), the probiotic, and a vitamin supplement design for horses not getting fortified grain. Something like Select II, Balance II, SmartPak's SmartVite Maintanence Grass, Uckele's Equi-Base Grass, etc. I've tried all of these with my horses and they seem to work about the same. The Uckele's has a probiotic in it and yeast cultures, so you could cut out your probiotic if you went with that one.

This basic, low-energy diet has really helped to calm down my hyper boy and he put on weight VERY quickly! Still safely, but much more quickly than I had anticipated. He's calmer, has a better work ethic, is less pooky, but still has plenty of energy to work and is getting enough to gain weight.

Once he's up to a good weight, you can cut out the beet pulp, cut the oil back to 1/2 cup, and leave him there. You can play around with the amount of alfalfa pellets if he gains too much or starts losing. My 15.2h Anglo maintains his weight on just 1.5-2 lbs of Alfalfa pellets when not working, 2.5-3lbs when we're working moderately.


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## luvs2ride1979 (Nov 9, 2007)

rosie9r said:


> He does not have a pasture to play in, he does not get turn out til the evening after I get off work. The theory (I was told) about feeding him alfalfa at night was so that he felt more full over night...but he has free choice bermuda anyway so Im not sure that even matters.


You're right, it doesn't really matter since he's getting free choice hay.

Is there any way you can move him somewhere that will give him daily turnout for 6 hours or more a day? That will really help his sanity and overall health, which will help his weight gain ultimately.


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## luvs2ride1979 (Nov 9, 2007)

rosie9r said:


> Alrighty, I will just leave him on his beet pulp then. Thanks Peggy, you came thru for me before when I first got him and he has gained a lot since then.


Alfalfa has better nutrition than beet pulp and is high in amino acids, which are needed to build muscle and gain weight. You can feed up to 8 lbs of alfalfa daily for most horses, without any risk of colic or founder. Many horses do fine on even more. When I lived in your area, I fed AM and PM hay as straight alfalfa (worked out to about 10-15 lbs a day), with lunch hay of Bermuda (about 5 lbs). No grain, just beet pulp mixed with rice bran and a vitamin supplement. It worked well to put weight on my OTTB.

However, with the things I have learned since then, I agree that free choice Bermuda is better, with Alfalfa to supplement that. Alfalfa has more nutrients and amino acids than Bermuda, which helps to fill in those nutritional gaps.

Feeds and grains are high in sugar and energy. It's like giving a kid a power bar and a coke. He'll have enough calories and nutrition, but he'll be bouncing off the walls ;-). The more feed you give a hot horse, the more hyper they become, the more the metabolism revs up, which makes them burn more energy, which makes them need more food. It's a viscous cycle. The only way to break it is to stop all "hot" feeds and go back to a forage and fiber based diet.

Make sure your beet pulp (and alfalfa pellets) are the kind that do NOT have any molasses in them.


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