Soaked Alfalfa and/or Grain?

[Kkmerrifield]

Hi there, fo those of you who feed your minis soaked alfalfa cubes,
1. Do you also feed grain?
2. How do you get enough fat into their diet?
3. Do you feed morning and night?
4. What are conditions that you would feed alfalfa instead of grain?

 

[chandab]

While a lot of minis do not need "grain", they all need something more than just forage, as no forage is complete and balanced. For many minis, a ration balancer in addition to their forage is all they need. A ration balancer is a concentrated source of protein, vitamins and minerals; typical feed rate for miniatures is 1/4-1/3# daily for adult maintenance (a bit higher for work or growth). Some minis do need something with more calories.
Due to the calories, protein and calcium level, it's usually best to keep alfalfa to less than 25% of the forage portion of the diet.
A horse's natural, fresh grass diet is usually only 2-3% fat tops; so most diets have sufficient fat; but an all dry forage diet may lack Omega 3 fatty acids, which can be supplemented in the diet by feeding about 1/2-1 ounce daily of stabilized ground flax (chia is also suitable, but I don't know how much that takes). [I prefer the ground flax to oil, as it's less messy; but flax oil can also be used, a bit less oil than ground, as oil is 100% fat, so has a higher O3 content than meal.]
I have to run, but happy to answer questions.

 

[Kelly]

I feed twice a day. I feed a ration balancer along with coastal hay. I weigh and measure everything including their hay. My minis that need additional weight also get oats, alfalfa hay and about 8 hours of turn out on the little grass we have.

 

[Tony]

We feed both to the horses in the barn. Those in the pastures get oats in the morning and always have access to coastal hay if the pastures are weak as they have been most of this year Those in the barn are fed twice a day.