Feeding Alfalfa Hay Free Choice

Question
Hi Corlena-
I have two Thoroughbreds that are right now in maintenance during the winter in Iowa.  My gelding is 8 and is off the track, my mare is 3 and has not been raced.  I am planning on eventing both of them.  They have been on a round bale for free choice hay consisting of a alfalfa/grass mix.  I also feed about 3 lbs (when dry) beet pulp each day, 8 lbs of Nutrena SafeChoice feed each day, and give my mare 3-4 oz. of Cool Calories a day to build some weight on her.  They have been doing well and maintaining their weight (my mare is gaining, which she needs to) with the hay, grain and beet pulp diet.  I just put in a new round bale of hay yesterday and it is all alfalfa.  I would have preferred another mix grass/alfalfa bale, but the guy that delivered it didn't tell me that it was entirely alfalfa until he was on his way out.  I have heard mostly bad things about pure alfalfa hay, and I am wary to up them to purely alfalfa, especially since it is free choice.  However, that is probably what I am stuck with for now unless I can get my hay guy to bring me a different bale, so what, if anything, should I be feeding in addition to the alfalfa bale?  Should I continue to feed some grain, some beet pulp, change grain, add a phosphorus supplement?  I am not too worried about them suddenly switching from a mix of alfalfa/grass to all alfalfa because my last bale was probably a 70 alfalfa/30 grass mix, but all alfalfa scares me a bit.  

Thank you,
Darci Lorensen

Answer
Hi Darci,

Thank you for your question.  

There is a lot of speculation about the safety of feeding pure alfalfa hay to horses.  But horses can do just fine on 100% alfalfa hay and in fact it is safer to supply as much of a horse's energy requirements from forage as possible and keep the feeding rate of grain to a minimum.  Had you been feeding a mostly grass hay before, it may have been necessary to change your approach to feeding...but since your previous hay was 70% alfalfa the overall change in your ration will be nominal.  The alfalfa hay will have more soluble carbohydrate in it and allow you to cut down on the amount of SafeChoice you are feeding but for your mare I would continue to feed the Cool Calories.  The disadvantage of feeding alfalfa is indeed the high Calcium:Phosphorous ratio that it has...which can be balanced closer to 2.0 by either adding a phosphorous supplement to the diet, or by replacing some of that SafeChoice with a mineral supplement that has a 1:1 CA:P ratio.  

You can continue to feed the beet pulp if you choose but may not have to as the pure alfalfa is now bringing more energy in a forage format (which is what the beet pulp was doing for the diet).  Keep in mind that a horse will eat enough in a day to meet its energy requirements, and will almost certainly eat all of their grain and finish up by eating enough forage to fulfill their energy need.  So by feeding more beet pulp or grain you will ultimately cut down on how much hay your horse will eat.  However the objective should be just the opposite and have your horse get as much of its nutrient requirements from forage as possible and feed only what grain is necessary to balance the ration.  The pure alfalfa hay will be high in crude protein, but has a poor lysine content, which is the portion of protein that horses need most.  The first instinct may be to switch to a lower protein feed but I would suggest that you don't go that route...as the SafeChoice will bring the much needed Lysine that alfalfa lacks.

I would suggest that you have your horses rations balanced to ensure that they are complete.  Many feed companies will have a horse specialist on staff who can help you balance rations, generally with the help of a computer software.  There are also some pay-per-use ration programs available on the internet, as well as ration balancing software available for purchase.  They may seem expensive but quickly pay for themselves either by saving money on grain, or eliminating nutrition related vet visits and bills.  Although I try not to use this forum for the purpose of self-promotion, I have to say that I have just developed Ration-X, an easy to use ration balancing software that will go on the market shortly.  It may be something you want to look into as it will allow you to balance your own rations as your horses go through the various stages of training.

I hope this is of some help.

Thanks, Corlena