Hay & Feeding

I know this has been discussed ad nauseum but I do want to pass on to you what I was told last week by the medical team at UC Davis.When we talked about Monte’s feeding regimen, I mentioned that we fed the herd from late September to February. I said grass for 6 weeks and then alfalfa. The head of the team asked how much alfalfa? Both he and the head resident, separately, (not in the same conversation) said they would NEVER recommend feeding straight alfalfa hay to any horse ever. They would not recommend more than 50% alfalfa. They said it would be difficult in a pasture situation to know how much grazing they really did in the winter. Also difficult to know how much hay each individual horse ate, since there is a pecking order and some horses will eat more than others. Especially if people are feeding extra flakes (more than 1 per horse.)This team was brilliant and highly respected.Heather