How to avoid alfalfa, oats, and soybean

Question
I have a 16 year old horse.  If he is feed alfalfa he will have a uveitus flare up.  If fed soybeans, he will colic.  We just had a blood allergy test and learned that he is allergic to alfalfa, sorghum, oats, and soybean.  He is also allergic to 50% of tested grasses, including: orchard, redtop, ryegrass, and johnson grass.  And 50% of trees, weeds, and fungi that he was tested for.  What can I feed this horse?  It seems like all packaged feeds include at least 1 item that he is allergic to.

Answer
Hello Vanessa,

Thank you for your question.  Feeding your horse certainly is more complicated than the average case!  My first suggestion is that you source the best quality forage that you can, while ensuring that it does not contain the grasses that your horse is allergic to.  This may mean that you frequently reseed your hay fields or find a reputable hay dealer to work with who can ensure that your hay has only certain grass types in it.  Stands of hay that are not frequently reseeded can have non-original species invade over time so keeping on top of your hay supply will ensure you don't get undesirable grasses in your hay.  A timothy/bromegrass mix will probably work well for you.  If you come across a poor quality forage year, you can introduce or increase the amount of beet pulp in your horse's diet, as it serves as a quality forage source with energy levels exceeding those of alfalfa, which your horse can not eat without suffering a bout of uveitus.

Because your horse has serious issues with a variety of grains and by-products, I would suggest that you formulate a ration for him before deciding on what to choose for purchased feeds.  By sampling your hay and a formulating ration, you may be able to minimize what else you need to feed him.  If your hay has enough protein and energy in it, you will only need to find a mineral...and you can find some that don't have the allergy-inducing ingredients in them.  If you find your hay has enough energy but not enough protein, you can then buy a protein-only supplement.  If the hay has enough protein but not enough energy, you then buy an energy-only ingredient.  Because diets of horses with extensive allergies can be complicated given the ingredients usually found in complete feeds, you generally have to buy your own ingredients and make your own feed. To simplify the process, make sure you only buy what you have to...and this is why sampling your hay and balancing a ration is essential.  I can help you with the ration once you have the hay sampled.  Your local feed dealer can sample your hay and send if for analysis or you can send it directly to Agri-Food Laboratories (visit their site at:http://www.agtest.com/).

Without being specific to your horse's requirements you can replace alfalfa with beet pulp, sorghum and oats with either beet pulp or a fat supplement (like Purina's Athlete or milled flaxseed) and soybean meal with canola meal.  Grapeseed extract is a nice supplement to help with allergies and Basic Equine Nutrition makes a good quality product. It is a bit pricey but may help in the summer when the trees and weeds are producing a lot of allergins.  

It is going to be important for you to regularly balance a ration for your horse to keep him safe.  It does become a lot of work but will really help in this case.

Thanks, Corlena