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 ND Sweetheart
Posts: 3471
   
Location: In My Own Dream Land | So whats the connection between having a bleeder and alfalfa being bad for them? I've talked to my vet and he says he has never heard that and doesn't see what the issue would be. |
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  Expert
Posts: 1584
Location: Central Texas | I've never heard that and I have fed alflafa for many years. |
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 Own It and Move On
Location: The edge of no where | Of the 4 top equine performance vets that I've used for a bleeder.......never heard this. We've discussed diet at length. |
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 Did I miss the party?
Posts: 3864
| I've heard that from various people too and it never stopped me from feeding it. I've just kept the bleeding from happening in the first place and been fine. I did have one horse that was the worst bleeder I've ever had and she didn't get alfalfa hay because she was allergic to the mold spores in it per allergy testing. So, she got the pellets instead along with timothy grass and was fine. |
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 Husband Spoiler
Posts: 4151
Location: North Dakota | I have never heard of that either and I have read up on EIPH quite a bit. I know it isn't recommended for horses that tie-up or PSSM but I have never heard it not being recommended for bleeders. |
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 Damn Yankee
Posts: 12390
Location: Somewhere between raising hell and Amazing Grace | I have heard this over and over and over again.....in one place....and one place only....Barrel Horse World.....
That's it.....
My 1D horse lives on Alfalfa hay and pellets....and is a bleeder. However, he runs without lasix thanks to THE Pulmoneze and EQ Royal........and still has his alfalfa diet :) |
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ND Sweetheart
Posts: 3471
Location: In My Own Dream Land | I'm in the process of switching over to alfalfa. He's been off of it for years, like 5. We recently figured out some other things with his diet, and needs to be on alfalfa to help with a sugar issue. Ive heard this on here before, from numerous people, but never got a reason as to why. Thanks for the replies. I think I'll just keep doing what I'm doing. Don't think it hurt him last time I fed it, when I was hauling hard.
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Damn Yankee
Posts: 12390
Location: Somewhere between raising hell and Amazing Grace | I'm not saying your vet isn't right or wrong, but I will say that in 15 years of riding racehorses, we did NOT take our thoroughbreds off the alfalfa for any reason unless they were allergic or tie up horses. Definitely not for bleeders.
When in doubt, talk to YOUR vet about YOUR horse and not what the general population does or believes...... |
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Damn Yankee
Posts: 12390
Location: Somewhere between raising hell and Amazing Grace | I will have to admit that this is becoming a sore spot for myself. Because there are so many people on these boards who right away jump to no alfalfa for bleeders and I think it's a crock.
Just remember, every single horse and every single situation is different. Yes you may own that one single horse that gets worse on alfalfa......but overall there is probably no reason you can't feed your horse alfalfa. Talk to your vet about it.
I spent 15 years riding racehorses, the main trainer I worked for had well over 200 horses, with 100 of them being on the backside. We never pulled our bleeders off alfalfa.
My horse is consistently running the 1D. All but one run this year has been 1D, with the only one that wasn't he won the 2D. He bled HORRIBLE last year. Not from his nose. He went from pulling 2d checks in jacksonville florida out of over 500 riders, then winning 3rd in the 1D out of 120 riders to running in the 3d. So we did a trach wash and BAL to find out he bled.
Fast foward to now....alfalfa is the ONLY hay he is allowed to have for two reasons. First, he has a restricted airway and other hay seems to irritate him, second, he's a HARD keeper and alfalfa is the only way to keep him looking awesome. Now that being said, we are fortunate enough to have great alfalfa available.
I'll share his run from yesterday. He does not run on lasix. It wasn't his best run but it's current. The ground was super deep and loose and got away from him, and it's just plain not his favorite pen. But I think you can see he does well on alfalfa.......he ended up 5th in the 1D
http://youtu.be/vSo9RLaYVcQ |
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 BHW's Lance Armstrong 
Posts: 11134
Location: Somewhere between S@%&# stirrer and Saint | It is funny that people ignorantly say stuff like that even the vet quoted in another post. When I first started going to Ruidoso 23 years ago the trainers there fed an ugly grassy hay that I wouldn't feed to my enemies horse, LOL. They seemed to feed it only as a filler. I think the biggest reason people did not feed alfalfa was because it cost more than that grass stuff. Alfalfa is very high in calcium but usually is balanced out with the grain. Now I see a huge amount of trainers feed alfalfa at Ruidoso. Also people may just feed what is handy to buy. |
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Damn Yankee
Posts: 12390
Location: Somewhere between raising hell and Amazing Grace | Turner1 - 2014-05-11 11:02 AM Just from my own experience, I was having an awful time with my horse. Per my vet, switched her to pellets, and made all the difference. So it did work for her.
With bleeding or with allergies? |
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 A Somebody to Everybody
Posts: 41354
Location: Under The Big Sky Of Texas | Ha ha ha ha ,,, saw where some were saying alfalfa was bad for bleeders, I have always fed alfalfa, had one that bled many moons ago and no one befor the internet said it was bad to feed. LOL |
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Damn Yankee
Posts: 12390
Location: Somewhere between raising hell and Amazing Grace | Turner1 - 2014-05-11 11:09 AM missroselee - 2014-05-11 9:03 AM Turner1 - 2014-05-11 11:02 AM Just from my own experience, I was having an awful time with my horse. Per my vet, switched her to pellets, and made all the difference. So it did work for her. With bleeding or with allergies?
Well your horse must be unique...because changing from flakes to pellets isn't going to stop a horse from bleeding. Heck alfalfa doesn't cause a horse to bleed. If your horse stopped bleeding just from switching from flakes to pellets, then he/she either wasn't bleeding to begin with, or is still bleeding. |
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Here we go again
Posts: 1581
| missroselee - 2014-05-11 10:27 AM Turner1 - 2014-05-11 11:09 AM missroselee - 2014-05-11 9:03 AM Turner1 - 2014-05-11 11:02 AM Just from my own experience, I was having an awful time with my horse. Per my vet, switched her to pellets, and made all the difference. So it did work for her. With bleeding or with allergies?
I think it depends on location, climate and the type of hay is being fed. With that said, Turner1 is located in a very dry climate and it did work. All horses, as with people, are different and need to be cared for individually.
Another thought to consider is what type of pesticides are used in each area of our country? They are varying depending on the climate and the indigenous bugs so to speak. I would think that would also have an affect on the health of the horse.
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