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Post by fleabitten on Feb 8, 2015 18:21:30 GMT
My friend has a cob that is basically a TB in a cobs body! She is very nervy and sensitive and gets distracted very easily and regularly messes about and explodes no matter whether at home or out and about. She goes out and about with her a lot as she has no riding facilities at home and her house is on a main road so she only really hacks once a week at the most. in the summer she would be able to ride in the field of course. But shes in the riding club and attends nearly every lesson and has been to other clinics and for lessons with other people and does pleasure rides and goes to the beach and showjumping the odd time so the horse is exposed a lot to the outside world and she even sent her for a months professional schooling before christmas. In the summer she fed her lo-cal balancer when she was out at grass but at this time of year she is stabled most of the time with a few hours in a small paddock and she finds that she would lose a bit of weight in the winter. She feeds hay. She feeds half a scoop of baileys conditioning mix and some dengie alfa-fa to slow down the eating. She feeds this twice a day. I mentioned that i had read somewhere that alfalfa wasnt good for sentitive horses as it makes them more hyper/itchy or something?? but cant remember the exact details. I also said that some people feed chaff to slow down their eating and some people dont - is there anything in that? Is it really necessary to feed chaff to bulk out the feed to slow them down? She asked me to find out more information. Does anyone know anything about alfalfa or any other suggestions on feeding?
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Post by pboy on Feb 8, 2015 18:48:32 GMT
Like most feeds, some horses get on well with alfalfa and others don't! Mine have all had it and loved it - it's very common to feed it in Spain as forage and my HK TB also had it with no problems. However some horses seem to be sensitive to it or it can turn them hyper, but if the cob has had no issues so far then it shouldn't be an issue.
Re: chaff, I know some 'bare footers' don't get on with it as they contain mould inhibitors (chemicals!) that can disagree with some.
I'm about to start feeding Indio straight oats as apparently they are 'slow-release' energy and add condition but, surprisingly given their reputation, don't tend to turn horses bonkers! But again different horses will react differently...
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Post by fleabitten on Feb 8, 2015 18:52:06 GMT
Thanks pboy.
Im not sure how long she has been feeding alfalfa but the cob has always been nervy and sensitive so i think most of it is just the way she is (shes tried calmers and everything and no difference), but i was thinking i wonder could the alfalfa make her worse?
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Post by brigadier on Feb 8, 2015 19:32:12 GMT
Alfalfa makes my connie mare very itchy- not sure if it makes her hyper, she is a diva but like a pet lamb to ride, just a diva on the ground- but more in a sensitive mareish way rather than bonkers. I think it is probably just too good a form of protein for her hence the itchiness- my TB did really well on it.
pboy- I used to feed straight oats to my TBx CB with no issues- he was a 'character' but they seemed to suit him.He was the one that was prone to azutoria but he never got it on oats. I did balance them out with limestone flour though as they are phosphorous heavy and imbalance the calcium. Also check use-by date- they should be fed within a short time of milling- think its three weeks but not super sure as from memory.
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Alfalfa
Feb 8, 2015 20:33:32 GMT
via mobile
Post by pboy on Feb 8, 2015 20:33:32 GMT
Interesting- thanks for the tips Brig! Speedibeet is high in calcium so apparently the two balance quite well...but I'll double check
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Post by fleabitten on Feb 8, 2015 22:21:08 GMT
Thanks brig. pboy - i read on the dengie website that alfalfa is high in calcium too, i think!
Friend says shes been feeding it for 2yrs but only in the winter but hasnt noticed any significant difference from winter too summer in behaviour so i think it may be unlikely that the alfalfa is disagreeing with her, but she says she might experiment and cut the alfalfa out when the bag is finished.
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