Feed for a horse possibly allergic to alfalfa?

[Goldenlab]

I have a little native gelding who is incredibly itchy. Not sweet itch, but scratches his mane off in summer (tail is ok). I've been wondering if the alfalfa in his feed is the culprit as he gets really itchy straight after eating his breakfast and dinner. He's currently fed Dengie Alfa A molasses free with a low cal balancer. He's been treated for lice just in case!

Has anyone found that their horse gets itchy with this feed? And if so can you suggest a chaff that might be better? He's a very good doer, so nothing sugary like happy hoof. Thank you for any suggestions

[Plomino]

Oh I wonder ! Thanks for posting this - my sons pony which is a little welsh mountain was on hi fi lite which was supposed to be passed for laminitis prone animals and she started being very itchy , but I put it down to a lot of flies being about . Then my old boy was ill and I switched to honeychop for him so changed her as well frankly because it saved having loads of different bags of feed about , and she stopped being itchy completely . I wonder if that was the cause instead ?

Honeychop do lots of different ones , so they might do something that would work for you .

[Sychnant]

Try Simple Systems feeds. Their website has a list of stockists, or they will deliver :)

[Goldenlab]

Thank you both for these suggestions. Simple systems don't have a stockist near me, and charge £8 for delivery, so I'll keep them as plan B, but definitely bear in mind.

Honeychop is stocked at my usual feed merchants. I'll be going there this week to get more balencer (baileys low cal) which I think is ok for him. I'll get some Honeychop chopped oat straw to mix with this as its the most basic, and he's such a glutton he will eat everything.

[Bonkey]

I can't feed my TB alfafa because it inflames his photosensitivity so I wouldn't be surprised if it causes itching too...

I am currently trying to either ditch the chaff altogether (on coolstance copra so its not needed really but the bugger likes it) or find a alternative that he can have just to make it a bit more interesting for him.

Doesn't help that he has to be one of the fussiest eating horses I have ever come across!

[Goldenlab]

I've been to the feed merchants this morning. Bought the basic Honeychop, and will feed that from this evening along with his balancer. Will report back in a week with an update. Thank you all!

[fjalladis]

Alfalfa is not a good feed for horses despite it being used in a huge variety of feeds.
My mare has an autoimmune disease which makes her skin flare up and is now extremely sensitive to alfalfa. I second the simple systems feed. It's best to go back to ax naturals duet as possible whilst the reaction subsides (and note that what's happening to the horses skin is probably happening to the lining of his gut too!) . If your order of feed is over a certain amount they do free delivery. Might be worth clubbing together with others for feed delivery.

[Goldenlab]

Update on my boy's feed. No change so far. He still scratches his mane off whenever he is in the stable. Will persevere. Thank you all with your suggestions.

[zirca]

We feed spillers high fibre cubes - no alfalfa. Mollichaff also has no alfalfa. In the winter, supplement with readigrass or similar, and oil.

[Truckingalong]

Don't feed mollichaff - it has molasses in it. Pure easy is one if the best feeds out there (mine are barefoot so I am vigilant about sugars and starches).

[Goldenlab]

Stopped the Honeychop today. Think the molasses in the honey chop were making matters worse. So he's now on grass cubes plus his balancer. And I'm getting the vet out too..

[Goldenlab]

Thursday. From Monday evening onwards he has been on grass cubes and balancer. The itching stopped yesterday morning and he has not scratched since. Fingers crossed we've cracked it.