In parts of the country where alfalfa is not grown,
like where I grew up in the gulf coast region of Texas, our horses didn't
ever get alfalfa, they ate bermuda grass hay and ate fresh grass which was
usually native or coastal bermuda grass. I never even heard of ulcers
until the past few years, and it was usually in connection with race horses that
were kept in stalls, and in stressful conditions at a training
facility.
There are thousands of horses that never get
alfalfa hay, maybe if a study were done to compare the incidence of ulcers in
those horses to compare to those fed alfalfa, we'd know more?
In reading recently that
the extra calcium in alfalfa may help prevent ulcers, I also wonder if the
complete removal of alfalfa from our horses? diets (other than on ride day)
may have contributed to more ulcers?
