>Perhaps those more knowledgeable than me can reply
to dispel or confirm >this, but I have always been under the impression
that alfafa produced more >heat during digestion. I don't know the
specifics, but if I remember >correctly, it produced more heat than grass
hay because of the richer >protein content.
I was told by my vet that the digestion of long
stemmed hay (grass, oat, etc and not legume/alfalfa) is what generates heat for
the horses during the cold winter nights. My neighbor moved here last year, was
feeding her horse alfalfa at night, grass hay in the morning. I told her I
thought that was not correct, she checked with her own vet & was
told to switch to the grass hay at night for heat
generation.
