Alfalfa? We built on a hay field and well last year we did spray out the alfalfa everywhere but it is now coming back in.. I would say it is less then half alfalfa.??

That is a good question. I am not sure myself. I do not see why not though.

Yes, horses can eat fresh alfalfa. The main thing to watch is that they aren't dining on JUST the alfalfa. Anything in excess is bad. Moderation is the key.

I'm not sure why but I was under the impression that it would cause a horse to founder if they grazed on fresh alfalfa or any grain for that matter.

I have a friend who runs all his broodmares out on an old alfalfa pasture that is now being taken over by grass. The horses seem to keep it pretty short and are on it year round. He has never had a problem and the pasture is now almost completely grass. You would just need to watch your horse and see how they do. You could also mow down the alfalfa like you would mow your grass not giving it a chance to get to long and lush. The grass should eventually choke out the alfalfa.

Horses can be turned out on grain fields depending on what it is. When we lived in Texas, the horses would be turned out on a winter wheat pastures with the cows.

If you are really worried call and talk with your vet.

The founder comes from the horse eating large amounts of alfalfa (or any other kind of grains or rich foods). They can also colic from it... basically, it would be like dining on a straight diet of hot fudge ice cream cakes. You can have one, once in a while, but too many are going to make you fat and too much, all at once, is going to make you sick sick sick.

As the above poster suggested, the best bet is probably talking to your vet about your horse's dietary needs and whether or not the alfalfa is a good choice for him/her.

I know the neighbors did that.. Just let his horses out on the same field ( it was subdivided) and now it seems to be just grass? I know I have to wean them on to it.. So maybe taking like a week or two for longer periods a day.. My friend suggested to start feeding them grain at a certain time so they get into a routine.. So I can let them out a little longer each day/or couple of days and then hopefully then come back to the pen to eat the grain...lol.. Do you think they will want grain over grass?

Our horses always preferred the grain over the grass (even alfalfa hehe). All you had to do, in order to bring 10 Arabians flying up from the back pastures, was to yell, hold a feed bucket up over your head and shake it. You had an oncoming stampede lol. We'd just open the gate up wide, and each horse would come into the arena and head straight for their own stall to eat. We'd then walk down and close and latch all the doors. Easy as pie