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 Extreme Veteran
Posts: 338
 
Location: NE TX | A little history: My mare is a little drawn up in the flanks, showing some ribs, and her coat and tail have that fluffed up "wormy" look. She is ulcer prone so I've treated her when I've gone places and she is on a maintenance dose of omeprazole and has been since January. She's been regularly wormed on a rotating schedule. I've recently swapped her to Ultium (blue bag) and she's gained some weight but not blooming as I'd like. I live and work 40 minutes away from where she stays, she is turned out 24/7 and so was only getting fed 1x a day until recently. I'm PowerPaking her now (with a friends help since I'm out of town for part). Last spring she did this and I gave her some of my older geldings alfalfa pellets and she got HOTT!!!!! She is hot normally but this made her even hotter!
I want her to look better, but I'm honestly scared to give her alfalfa since it made her SO hot last time. I've read that some horses it doesn't make them hot I've heard some it does. I've heard it doesn't and its in my head. LONG story short my question is: Is there a difference in straight alfalfa vs alfalfa cubes or alfalfa pellets?
She currently gets:
AM
1- 3 quart scoop Ultium
PM
1- 3 quart scoop Ultium
Platinum Wellness & Balance
1.5G omeprazole
Hoofshoer's Secret
1oz B1
1cup Aloe Vera Juice
Salt and Electrolytes as needed
Edited by Flamin10 2016-04-07 9:10 PM
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 Expert
Posts: 5293
| 6 quarts a day of ultium? That is an extremely high amount. When I fed it few years ago my horses were slick and shiny and looked amazing on 1 pound of ultium twice a day. But it also made them so bonkers they were a risk to themselves and others. Never again. |
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 Bulls Eye
Posts: 6443
Location: Oklahoma | I feed alfalfa pellets. Mine do not get hot. I feed free choice bermuda round bales and they get alfalfa pellets and safechoice am/pm. (broodmares)
My gelding just gets 3 pounds of alfalfa pellets once a day and is dapple d out and looks great |
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 Veteran
Posts: 178
| I had a horse like that. I put him on DAC Bloom and oil and he looks amazing now. |
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 Hog Tie My Mojo
Posts: 4847
 
Location: Opelousas, LA | If you are close enough to Wills Point, I would scrap your current program and put your horse on Omnis cubes. If you want to, you can feed a little bit of Renew Gold or stabilized rice bran along with the cubes and for ulcers I would use Gastro Plus from THE. At first you may need to put the Gastro Plus in a syringe and squirt it in her mouth, eventually she may eat it on her feed. I would cut out all other supplements other than the salt and I would offer it free choice if you use it.
In my opinion, you have her on too much stuff, if she looked and felt amazing on this program then I would stick with it but it obviously doesn't agree with her and I'm sure your checkbook isn't happy either. I have used Omeprazole for the last 16 years and it is an awesome product to use for no longer than a month or so, after that it starts to negatively affect thier gut and immune system. I know it is a huge leap to change a program like yours to the one I suggested and you need to do it slowly, but I promise your horse will thank you and so will your checkbook. |
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 The Bling Princess
Posts: 3411
Location: North Dakota | FLITASTIC - 2016-04-08 3:55 AM 6 quarts a day of ultium? That is an extremely high amount. When I fed it few years ago my horses were slick and shiny and looked amazing on 1 pound of ultium twice a day. But it also made them so bonkers they were a risk to themselves and others. Never again.
I agree its not the alfalfa that makes them hot, my money is on the Ultium. 6 quarts is A LOT for a horse that isn't getting worked very hard!!! Last summer my horse ( a hard keeper) was worked on average 5-6 days per week and he maintained his weight and felt fabulous off 1 POUND A DAY and free access to pasture!!! |
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I just read the headlines
Posts: 4483
| I agree with Barnmom. I use the Omni cubes and it has helped my horse tremendously, both health and mind wise. From what I read, the omeprazole (?) is not supposed to be an everyday supplement. That may be a big part of your problem. It is keeping her from digesting the nutrients from her feed. I use a different ulcer prevent product, but I think there are several out there that work really well.
My horse, I thought, got high on alfalfa and oats, but once I added the herbal ulcer treatment to his feed, he calmed down and REALLY bloomed. I hope you find something that works for your horse, it sure will drive you crazy trying to find a good program.  |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 639
Location: God's country...aka TEXAS | The only thing is alfalfa pellets do not count as long stem forage. So make sure she is still getting some kind of hay or pasture. Alfalfa cubes do count as long stem if you can get some of those. Also maybe add something like oxygen mega oil to gain weight and put the "bloom" on her. |
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Red Bull Agressive
Posts: 5981
Location: North Dakota | Whole oats, alfalfa (cubes or bales), flax, and Renew Gold accompanied by plenty of fresh grass/grass hay IMO is the best diet one can possibly feed nearly any horse. All my horse who had trouble keeping weight or just didn't have that "bloom" filled out, shined up, and felt much better once switched to this program. Nowadays the only extra supplement I feed is Cur-Ost for my horse's KS. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 338
Location: NE TX | The Ultium switch was recent (2 months ago) before that for the last two years she'd been on Super Glo II by Lonestar so I know it wasn't the Ultium making her hot cause she wasn't even in it. Like I said she's normally a hot horse she was hot when I got her and she was at a stable level of hotness till last spring when I gave her the alfalfa pellets and within a few days she got super hot and I took her off and she got better. My question wasn't about different feeds I should try (which I appreciate the input I still haven't gotten my question answered). Is there a difference in just regular alfalfa vs pellets or cubes? Cause the only change was the pellets last year. She is turned out in a pasture with a free choice round bale in fall/winter and free choice grass all spring/summer long. Only time she's in a stall is when she is eating or if I need to catch her to ride. Her salt block is in her stall too which she has access to if she wants a break from the wind, or rain.
Edited by Flamin10 2016-04-08 10:45 AM
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 Expert
Posts: 2457
| Flamin10 - 2016-04-08 10:42 AM The Ultium switch was recent (2 months ago) before that for the last two years she'd been on Super Glo II by Lonestar so I know it wasn't the Ultium making her hot cause she wasn't even in it. Like I said she's normally a hot horse she was hot when I got her and she was at a stable level of hotness till last spring when I gave her the alfalfa pellets and within a few days she got super hot and I took her off and she got better. My question wasn't about different feeds I should try (which I appreciate the input I still haven't gotten my question answered). Is there a difference in just regular alfalfa vs pellets or cubes? Cause the only change was the pellets last year. She is turned out in a pasture with a free choice round bale in fall/winter and free choice grass all spring/summer long. Only time she's in a stall is when she is eating or if I need to catch her to ride. Her salt block is in her stall too which she has access to if she wants a break from the wind, or rain.
YES -
Flaked alfalfa from the bale is considered long stem forage. Cubes are also forage. This means that the feed must be fermented in the hind gut for absorption.
Pelleted alfalfa acts more like a concentrate, or a grain in the equine digestive system.
For what it is worth as well, pelleted and cubed alfalfa is packaged for consistency; meaning different combinations of alfala cuttings, protein levels and other variables are all mixed together to get an averaged, consistent content in the product. The protein content is usually somewhere around 16%, depending on the manufacturer.
Often, you can feed a higher protein alfalfa from flakes, we feed tested alfalfa that protein tests closer to 22% right now. For reference, in our area (N central KS) most "dairy quality alfalfa" will test closer to 25% while average alfalfa is 18-20%. Most of the small bales you can buy from feed stores or the like will be around 16-18%, but again, it depends on the area it was produced, the quality of the product when baled, the cutting of the alfalfa, and even the variety of alfalfa that was grown. |
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 Off the Wall Wacky
Posts: 2981
Location: Louisiana | Everything at our place is on alfalfa. The hot ones have calmed down, and the dead heads have nice energy.
It's not cheap but we're liking it!! |
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