He was always a very forward horse and alfalfa made a nut case out of him. This may have adverse results, though – horses often settle down when they’re allowed to … I didn't pay too much attention at first, I thought maybe he was just in a mood. Ah, the spooky horse. Alfalfa hay can be an excellent source of calories for horses who need help in gaining weight, or whose exercise demands require additional energy sources. Horses that have restricted exercise and low nutrient needs can also get too fat if too much high quality alfalfa hay is fed. Feeding alfalfa is an excellent alternative to feeding excessive amounts of grain at meals to get more calories into a horse’s diet. To make pellets, Standlee grinds dried forage to a small particle size, and with the addition of heat and steam, forms the forage into pellets. Sugar and starch provide horses with quick release … About 2 weeks ago, I started him on Horseshoer's Friend, and noticed almost immediately that he was acting a bit spooky while riding, and he's normally not a spooky horse at all. Horse owners have strong opinions when it comes to whether alfalfa should be a part of the equine diet. Especially during the winter months, sometimes you just can’t help but be frustrated by spooks, leaps and snorting antics from your equine partner. After water, the major constituent of the horse's body is protein. The right calmer can help to break the cycle and can be used for as long as you need it. Alfalfa can be sown in spring or fall, and does best on well-drained soils with a neutral pH of 6.8–7.5. Allowing horses unlimited access to very high quality alfalfa hay may result is some digestive upset (such as diarrhea). … The legume class of hay includes alfalfa, clover, and birdsfoot trefoil hay. Ingredients: Dehydrated Alfalfa Meal, Wheat Middlings, Shredded Beet Pulp, Soybean Hulls, Cane Molasses, Dehulled Soybean Meal, Soybean Oil, Distillers Dried Grains, Stabilized Rice Bran, Flaxseed -partial listing- Non Structural Carbohydrate (NSC); used to describe the sugar and starch content of the feed, the digestible carbohydrates. Once you have the movement you start slowing it down or speeding it up and your horse should follow you by slowing down or speeding up. Excess carbs can make certain horses hot. If a horse is losing their sight they can become very spooky and nappy, it's probably not this but it's a very quick and easy thing for your vet to check and is a standard part of a stage 2 vetting. 13 January 2018 #7. Joined 12 April 2008 Messages 1,740. However, for horses that can be excitable, spooky or nervous this type of energy is not required in large quantities and should be reduced wherever possible in the ration. You want to really focus on moving with your horse to start with, I find closing my eyes helps a lot although this can be dodgy on a spooky horse! 16 November 2015 #7. The pellets are usually seen more at feed stores, but can be used the same with a little extra work. is quite spooky, he is settling in, and is beginning to calm down a bit, but he jumps and spooks when i bring him in/turn him out, when i hack him up the road (2 mins) to the arena, and also today in the arena, it was quite windy, but he spooked 6/7 times, and each time he does he really jumps out of his skin, sometimes breaks into canter etc, and I … Others view it as a kind of poison. When you’re riding a spooky horse, your first inclination may be to tighten up on the reins and slow the horse’s forward movement. Forage pellets are the … … There are a few caveats, but the key is balance. Good quality alfalfa hay that is fed in appropriate amounts will not make normal horses sick. Fighting a continuous spooky battle puts you in harm’s way and may even reinforce the negative experience for your horse. I am able to … Not so widely known is the most important fact that lucerne is high in potassium and extremely low in sodium. 13 January 2018 #7. Of course, you can't do anything about your horse's genes or his experiences before you owned him. Alfalfa requires sustained levels of potassium and phosphorus to grow well. I won't feed him baled alfalfa as two of the others can't have it and would go beserk once they got a whiff of it. Whether this is because they do actually make horses hyperactive, or because they are energy dense feeds that are easy to overfeed and therefore by default make horses hot is hard to determine. The key here is balance had an extremely hot, spooky mare they. Key is balance horse may need to be controlled horses with kidney disease should not eat a diet! Content and quality i am able to … alfalfa can be enough to require grain horse may to. 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