Good morning everyone!

I recently got results back from a hair analysis and compared with my allergy test results from my vet. My gelding got hurt in August of 2019 and has had some gut issues and other minor issues since. I'm guessing due to all the stress and anxiety that came with being stuck in prison for a few months during his injury.. He is a VERY hard keeper and VERY picky. But now I am on the search for a feed that won't irritate him. He's my 1/2D, open rodeo horse. Would love to keep him going and comfortable as long as possible. He IS getting allergy shots. He is currently on Bluebonnet Omega Force and Alfalfa Pellets as his 'grain', pasture and grass/alf round bales 24/7 and looks phenom; ever since changing to this program the beginning of June, but I don't know if I need to switch or if I can continue feeding what I am.. Just looking for advice

Results

Good  - Rice Bran, oats, beet pulp, grass hay, timothy, BOSS, rice bran oil, camelina oil, ACV, chia seeds, coconut meal.

Bad (should have little to none in his diet) - Alfalfa (Yeah.. Alf.), corn, wheat, soy, flax and canola oil. 

pls help lol

If this diet is working why change..

I'd hate to continue feeding a feed I KNOW has irritants and ingredients he is allergic to.. 

I'm thinking switching to just timothy pellets, chia seeds, and oats (since it's about the only few things he loves and doesn't reject in the food pan) along with his vitamin/mineral supplement of course.

If he's prone to ulcers oats will be your worst enemy. I'd just switch to grass hay pellets & add beet pulp pellets. Or a stabilized rice bran. Eliminate some of that alfalfa consumption. If he's got free access to the forage you mentioned he probably doesn't need a pretend grain meal at all. I actually went grain free a couple weeks ago. Hay and they get alfalfa and beet pulp pellets soaked, just enough to add their MVP stuff into and cushings pill for another. It's a heck of a lot cheaper. If one starts dropping weight I'll just add more pellets. the old cushings guy will probably get some rice bran for winter. Otherwise just keep it simple. It'll eliminate a lot of the flagged items on your list and reduce the alfalfa intake somewhat 

You might try googling whole food diets for horses. It's thinking "outside the box", though. But as someone who has food allergies, I wouldn't feed what he is allergic to. My food allergies really zap my energy and upper respiratory system. 

I got recommended Crypto Aero (the original, so there's not A LOT of alfalfa pellets/hay) by both my vet and my nutritionist.. What are your guys' thoughts? From facebook groups alone, I haven't heard or seen much positive -_-

But yes, I agree. Timothy pellets and beet pulp, possibly even add some chia seeds (opinions?) He was previously on a feed somewhat like ProElite, but of course, allergic to half the ingredients, and then 1/2 cup chia seeds a day, then pasture and grass hay. 

I'll add a picture of how he looks currently and his journey so far. 

This is him on the Muggli Alfalfa Pellets (contains alfalfa, corn, barley, and wheat..) and BlueBonnet Omega Force. He got 4lbs of the pellets and 4lbs of the BB feed. Pure Equine Herbs hindgut conditioner, Stride Animal Health's Lifeline+ and Summit of course for joints.. Both the pellets and his BB have ingredients he's allergic to. There have been no symptoms, other than he has started to have some alley issues here and there again (mostly depends on the arena..). He's still running and placing at open rodeos, etc. His 'hard' season ended this past weekend and we're back to hauling 1-2x a month until snow flies. 

More of him from this past weekend at our last rodeos. 7/18 and 7/19

You might look at Wild Fed. My daughter was feeding that to her older gelding and mare this winter. You don't feed much and she really liked it. She doesn't feed it now because the horses up on the mountain with her for the summer and are on good pasture, but she will go back to it this fall/winter. She also feeds Renew Gold. I don't know how easy it is to find though. She lives in Colorado on the Western slopes of the Rockies. I know you can google it to find their website. 

I would stay on this diet. But what I would add is Stride Animal Health (made by BB) Lifeline and do the Hind Gut Health Program. I would actually contact BB/Stride and get a plan together with Dr Nichols and Dr Vandergrift. They are amazing to work with. I have had clients with horse with BAD allergy test and we came up with a plan and they where much better and actually their allergy test was even improved after being on the program they put together. I have seen amazing results with everything they have helped me with.

Also if you get control of gut health/inflamation your immune system will improve. Therefor allergies will most of the time improve as well. Do you have the actual allergy test available, I would be interested in the numbers he has on the things they say are bad for him. Normally if it is low numbers they are not truely allergic just need to address gut health. And the hard keeper part, every horse that I have had that is a "hard keeper" was not after doing the Hind gut Health program.

Also look into BB Equilene Pro Care

https://youtu.be/LXRclFneKWk

great webinar to listen to from Dr Vandergrift 

I wish that was the same in my case. George Cuban is who has helped me with my program, he is also a BB nutritionist. I did the hindgut program with no results.. Pure Equine Herbs hindgut program is the only thing that worked for him. As far as keeping him ON the diet, we are considering just changing his round bale to straight grass hay, and seeing if we can keep the pellets and grain the same. See if there's any symptoms and go from there. 

He is already on Lifeline. 

Also, cannot get procare in my area. 

Have you done the GI Calm.

No. Don't have the funds to continue to set on fire on more additives in his grain, therefore George and I decided not to go that route. Went herbal and saw results in his weight gain and attitude in a week. So we'll stick with that for this specific horse.