There are also endurance horse owners that (must not be reading ridecamp lately) live in extreme cold temps and “free
feed” alfalfa during the cold weather. It actually helps the horses keep
warmer and happier. ?So don’t worry
about trying to feed beet pulp in -40 temps (:>)
You say you are feeding each horse about ¼ bale,
did you mean flake here? if so, then you’re probably
far under the 25-30 percent (or 2-3 lbs) that it is usually safe to feed most
endurance horses, depends how big your flakes are. Mine are about 6-7 lbs. My
horses are on pasture as well, so when I calculate the percentage of alfalfa
they’re getting I also factor in the grass the nibble all day & nite.
Kathy
We normally did not feed alfalfa to our horses, however, this winter we
felt their condition was not what it should be and we had an extremely cold
spell that lasted close to a month (with temperatures and wind combined for windchills of -48). We do not stall our horses
indoors unless the weather is really bad (ie: wet and
freezing at the same time), as they have loose housing and other wind
protection. We normally feed them a grass/hay mix and feed it in
large quantity when the temps warrant it, but still did not feel it was doing
the job. We started to add some alfalfa hay to their regular feed
thinking to ensure their warmth and well-being and noticed a huge improvement
in their condition and weight. We are still feeding some alfalfa to them,
although we do not feed it in large quantities - perhaps 1/4
bale per horse a day (not sure what that would be weight-wise), along
with free-choice mixed grass hay.
We are planning to compete in the 50 milers this summer, and while our
winter temps are very low, the opposite is routinely true of our summer
temps; they do climb quite high. We can easily switch to beet pulp
mix for the summer, but I'll tell you that trying to feed beet pulp to horses in -40 weather really doesn't work for us.
