Hot horse too much alfalfa?

Question

I just bought a 6yr old morgan/paint gelding who is a big horse 16hands vary solid. I'm feeding him 2flakes of alfalfa/grass mix twice daily. He's turned out to pasture all day so he grazes and has access to a salt block in his stall. He seems a bit hot in the past few days. Does this sound right? Any suggestions? Thanks..

Answer 1

he may just be a hot horse i know my mom has a horse that always seems hot. but he he has grass all day everyday i would take him down to one flake twice a day.

Answer 2

I would take him off of the hay altogether, and leave him on pasture 24/7 if possible.   Let him run off steam day and night,

Answer 3

I don't think you need to feed him hay as long as there is plenty of grass for him to eat. Grass right now is better for him then hay. The only reason I would give him any hay if was if he needed to stay in the barn for some reason or he doesn't have any grass to eat. I would try not giving him any hay, the grass is better.

Answer 4

I'm not entirely clear on what you mean by hot. If you mean full of energy then he needs more work and less alfalfa. The more protein you put in your horse the more you have to work them.

  If the horse is keeping his weight on from grazing leave him outside. If you have to stall him, just use orchard grass.  Some alfalfa depending on where its grown and how early its cut has a lot of protein in it. Some as much as 13 percent.

  The salt block is not an issue.

Answer 5

well first off TOO much alfalfa can cause colic. Alfalfa is very rich in nutrients so that along with grain is making him hot. Try maybe doing a mix oh hay like half alfalfa and half (another kind of hay) and lower his grain intake just a LITTLE also, try and exersize him more. you should see a big difference :D hope this helps

Answer 6

well with all that grazing he should be able to go without alfalfa (or at least brought down to 1 flake) but still needs hay....

Answer 7

The hay could be heating him a little. It sounds like this is alfa/meadow hay mix, which wouldn't normally have much effect. All horses don't react the same to feed mixes. We have a pony who feeds on everything hot, but my hack who we struggle to feed any hard feed to, because he gets hot so easily.

Is there a lot of leaf on the alfalfa, if so this could be causing it.

Is there a lot of clover in your paddock, some horses will react to that. Or has the paddock very good grass, if so that can definitely effect some horses. The protein is higher in pasture in the mornings. Thus you could keep him penned up till after lunch.

Chances are if he is eating the hay - he probably needs it. Or it could be that he just loves the alfalfa?

Sorry if I've confused you?

I would bet on it being more pasture related than hay related. In spring the grass can make the horses get hot, but also at any time if you've had quite a bit of rain and there is a fresh pick of feed. Can you fence off a smaller area so he can't eat too much - with an electric fence unit?

Best of luck. Alternatively he may just be settling in and strutting his stuff, to prove he is top dog in the paddock. I hope something here helps you....  :)