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Re: Fwd: Feeding bermuda



Just to add my 2cents--My 27 (at that time) yr. old mare needed surgery
for a first time colic in 25 years and this occurred after she had been
on FL coastal hay for just one month.  She was born in FL and I know
she had it when we lived here before, but she had been in CT for 18 years
and had been fed almost entirely "orchard grass" or local hay.  This became
a problem when her teeth started to go, and I supplemented with beet pulp
until we moved to FL.  She loved the coastal, but it didn't love her!  Now
she is fed alfalfa (flake--separated from the stalk) and I supplement her
hay with alfalfa pellets which are actually her main source of  roughage
and forage.  Ironically, she is now able to chew easier since I have had
several teeth extracted (when they were infected), and her weight, health,
and digestion is better than it has been in about 8 years.  I think the age of
the horse, and their ability to chew their hay thoroughly has a lot to do with
how the coastal hay affects them and their tendency to colic.  I just feel,
as my trainer does, that many people try to replace good hay with processed
feeds, and ignore the fact that the quality of a horse's "forage" is of the
greatest
importance.  A horse's natural food is grass, not pellets or sweet feed, and
a really nutritious hay is most important of all.  Coastal hay down here does
vary greatly, but you only need to get one flake with a toxic weed mixed in
or one case of colic by impaction to turn you off of it entirely.  Linda in O.B.FL

Leigh331@aol.com wrote:

> In a message dated 1/7/99 9:45:04 AM EST, flemmerl@rcbhsc.wvu.edu writes:
>
> <<
>  Interesting!  When we lived in Florida, all we fed was the local Coastal
>  Bermuda hay.  No real problems with any of the 52 horses on the farm.
>  Is this the same Bermuda you all are talking about?
>   >>
> I think it is the same.  The way it was explained to me was that coastal
> bermuda is very fine, when the horse chews it, it becomes full of small
> splinter type bits.  This is what causes the impaction.  I have know many,
> many horses that do fine on coastal, but I think they were quite used to it.
> The comment was me just repeating what the vets at the vet school had said to
> me.
> Leigh
>
>   ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Subject: Re: Feeding bermuda
> Date: Thu, 07 Jan 1999 09:43:33 -0500
> From: flemmerl@rcbhsc.wvu.edu (Flemmer, Linda)
> To: Leigh331@aol.com
> CC: ridecamp@endurance.net
> References: <2cc79a42.369400b3@aol.com>
>
> Interesting!  When we lived in Florida, all we fed was the local Coastal
> Bermuda hay.  No real problems with any of the 52 horses on the farm.
> Is this the same Bermuda you all are talking about?
>
> Linda Flemmer
>
> Leigh331@aol.com wrote:
> >
> > In a message dated 1/6/99 3:22:53 PM EST, suendavid@worldnet.att.net writes:
> >
> > << Good luck with your guys (and I'd still trade having bermuda but living
> >  in L.A. for no bermuda but living north anyday!):-D
> >   >>
> >
> > The Vets at North Carolina State University vet school believe that bermuda
> > hay (not growing, cut, dried hay) keeps them in business.  They've told me
> > never to feed it, it causes impaction colic often.
> > leigh





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