Yes, alfalfa is basically a dairy cow feed. Go to http://www.shady-acres.com/susan/index.shtml
and read the section titled "Alfalfa for Distance Horses". Read the other
sections, too, if you have the time. There's enough information there for you to
make a good decision on what to feed your horses.
I have also know many horse owners that have fed nothing but alfalfa
& grain to all their horses all their (the owner's, not the horse's) life.
However, most of these owners also only keep a horse until it's early teens and
none of them have been endurance horse owners. I've heard the same thing of
owners refusing to worm a horse....."we never worm any of our horses and have
never had any problems". Of course, they also sell the horses before their mid
or late teens and never get to see the repercussions of the horse's intestinal
system being so damaged by parasites that they are prone to colic or cannot
properly utilize their food and require special diets. BTW, my vet said a recent
study on parasites showed that proper control in the first year of life is
the most critical for avoiding bowel & intestinal damage and associated
problems.
