Alfalfa is nutrient-dense, providing crude protein, calcium, and high-quality fiber with relatively few nonstructural carbohydrates (sugars and starches). It’s ideal for underweight horses. It’s also great for athletes who need to replenish their energy levels between workouts.
However, Duren doesn’t recommend feeding alfalfa to endurance horses because protein metabolism creates heat that can impede the horse’s ability to dissipate it. This could lead to dehydration and even heat stress.
Protein
Alfalfa has a high protein content that helps develop muscle. It also contains the amino acid lysine, which is necessary for forming proteins and building cells that comprise muscle. Alfalfa is a staple in the diet of horses that perform, breed, or are undergoing growth and lactation. It’s a popular choice for performance horses because it provides the muscles with slow-release energy to keep them feeling energized throughout a long ride or competition. In addition, it helps to buffer stomach acid for horses prone to ulcers because of its high calcium content.
Horses need a mix of nutrients for optimum health, muscle development, and performance. Protein is an important nutrient for muscle development, but so are vitamins and minerals like copper, iron, calcium, zinc, and selenium. A quality forage, such as alfalfa or Timothy, is also essential to the diet.
It’s important to note that muscle development is a complex interplay of exercise, nutrition, and genetic predisposition. Not every horse is suited for a career in the show ring or the racetrack, but even those horses can still build muscle by using their unique genetics and by feeding a diet that encourages muscularity.
Generally, a healthy horse should consume about a pound of high-quality protein daily. That’s because a protein-rich diet helps develop strong bones and teeth, supports cell function and tissue repair, and is essential for the development of muscle in young or growing horses.
Some horses, including those in work or breeding programs, require more protein than others for optimal health. Alfalfa has the added benefit of a low starch and sugar content compared to other grains, making it a good source of protein without adding too many carbs to a horse’s diet.
In addition, alfalfa is high in soluble fiber, which can help prevent digestive issues such as colic, gastric ulcers, and hind gut ulcers. Fiber can also help reduce excess weight. It’s important to consult a certified equine nutritionist and veterinarian to create an optimal diet for your horse.
Amino Acids
The protein in hay, pasture, or grains contains amino acids. When they reach your horse’s stomach and small intestine, enzymes break them down into the building blocks he needs to build proteins that benefit many physiological processes in the body. Thousands of amino acids exist, but the 22 your horse requires are called essential amino acids because his body can’t create them on its own; he must get them from his diet.
When he consumes them, they form proteins that he uses to make tissue, bone, and other structures in the body. Virtually all the tissues in your horse’s body—including hair, hooves, and muscles—are made of protein. Muscle, for instance, is 73% amino acid. He must consume the right amounts of these essential amino acids to look his best, perform to his potential and keep his bones strong.
Besides looking for the crude protein percentage on a feed label, Mueller says it’s important to know the amino acid profile. He adds, “A lot of times, if you’re going to use a protein source, you want to know the limiting amino acid profile as well.”
For example, lysine is an essential amino acid that can’t be synthesized in the body, so he must obtain it from his diet. He also must consume adequate levels of the branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) leucine, isoleucine, and valine. These amino acids are able to stimulate protein synthesis in the muscles and may be of particular interest to performance horses who might experience muscle fatigue during exercise.
Another BCAA, valine, has the unique ability to be converted to acetyl-CoA, a fuel for the ATP system of cells. This process releases energy for the cellular work of your horse’s muscles and other parts of the body, so it is crucial for optimal performance.
Other essential amino acids include methionine, arginine, histidine, phenylalanine, and threonine. Some amino acids, such as tryptophan, should be avoided at high levels because of the risk of toxicity. Too much can cause respiratory distress and hemolytic anemia. Excessive tryptophan can also affect the gastrointestinal tract’s functioning and nutrient absorption.
Fiber
Alfalfa is high in fiber which is an important part of any diet. It helps the horse’s digestive system work effectively. It also helps the intestines regulate blood sugar and aids in absorbing nutrients.
Alfalfa contains a number of vitamins and minerals, such as Vitamins A, E, K, B6, and C. It is also a good source of protein.
Its richness in calcium makes it an excellent food for promoting bone health. The alfalfa plant is able to absorb calcium from the soil and transfer it into the horse’s body, helping prevent osteoporosis and other skeletal problems. It is also a good source of magnesium, which is involved in the absorption of calcium and phosphorus.
Horses that exercise heavily may need a higher protein content in their diet to help them build muscle. Adding alfalfa to their regular forage can increase the protein content without dramatically increasing the calories. This can be done by combining a small amount of alfalfa with grass hay or by feeding it in pelleted form.
When using a high-protein feed such as alfalfa, monitoring the horse’s water consumption and urine output is important. The body’s process of converting excess protein to energy produces nitrogen as a waste product, which is excreted in the urine. This can lead to dehydration if the animal is not drinking enough water. It can also result in acidosis, which can contribute to a variety of health problems, including joint and hoof pain.
In general, alfalfa’s calcium content is higher than grass hay’s. This can interfere with a horse’s calcium-to-phosphorus ratio if it is being used as the main forage source in a high-protein diet. It is also important to monitor the horse’s potassium levels in the event that he has hyperkalemic periodic paralysis (HYPP).
As with any food, when switching from one type of hay to another, it is best to make the change gradually. This will give the microbes in the hindgut time to adjust and avoid any digestive upset. It is also recommended that a professional equine nutritionist or veterinarian should be consulted to ensure the diet is properly balanced.
Vitamins
Alfalfa contains a wide array of vitamins, including B-complex and Vitamin C, as well as minerals like calcium, magnesium, and potassium. It’s no wonder this legume is a popular ingredient in horse feed. These nutrients support muscle growth, metabolism, and bone health and work together to help horses maintain a healthy weight.
Muscles need energy to function, and the carbohydrate content of alfalfa hay is an excellent source. This slow-release energy helps fuel your horse for his daily activities, whether that’s leisurely trot or high-intensity workout.
Carbohydrates aren’t the only energy source for horses; they also need fat to burn. But if a horse’s diet is too rich in carbohydrates, he might gain weight that he doesn’t need. That’s why it’s important to monitor the carbohydrates in a horse’s diet and make sure there is an adequate balance of protein, starch, lipids, and fiber.
A rich source of protein, alfalfa also contains a wealth of other nutrients that contribute to a horse’s overall health. These nutrients include calcium, which supports strong bones and teeth, and phosphorus, which works in tandem with calcium to support skeletal health. Other mineral standouts in alfalfa are magnesium, which is critical for metabolic processes, and potassium, which promotes muscle function and fluid balance.
While it’s a great source of protein, owners should be careful not to overdo alfalfa. A diet too high in protein creates an overabundance of acid in the hindgut. The excess can lead to fermentation and putrefaction and may damage the gut lining. It can also create too much ammonia, which is toxic to the liver and kidneys.
Moreover, high-protein diets can cause horses to sweat more and experience heat stress. This is because the body can’t store excess protein as it can with extra fat or sugars; it has to be flushed out via sweating and urination.
As with any change to a horse’s diet, it’s best to introduce alfalfa gradually. Start by mixing a small percentage of the hay with his regular ration and increase it over 7-10 days. This method ensures that the stomach gets accustomed to this new food and will tolerate it.
