Is anyone else having trouble finding alfalfa hay?  No one around here has any.  I think I've called every feed store south of San Antonio and no one has any.  I have been told that there are growers down in McAllen, but I can't find any numbers. 

The local guy told me that California is now buying NM alfalfa because their fields are either too wet or flooding and no one here has been able to get any.  How about the rest of you?  Any one in S. Texas know where to get some? 

My old mare is on nutrena prime and alfalfa pellets, but I was also feeding her alfalfa hay.  For reasons unknown(and undiscoverable to my vets, both of them) , my mare will not eat costal hay and with the amount of rain we have had there is almost no grass. I wan't to try to keep as much forage in her diet as possible.  The hay everyone down here carries is from NM, but aparently they have forgotten to ship to South Texas this month.  I have tried her on the alfalfa cubes, but she won't eat them either. 

This is the only one that gets the alfalfa and yes, I have tried just leaving her penned up with the costal hay and alfalfa cubes.  She just looks at them and looses weight.

try these sites they  may help, good luck

http://www.hayexchange.com/

http://www.horse-talk.com/hay.html

I have had no problems in So. Cal getting Alfalfa.  Although it's not great stuff, even though I'm buying the best.  Lots of stems...winter barn hay.   Our's is grown locally.

I give my horses 70% Bermuda, 30% alfalfa.  Right now all the hay is less than desirable.  My horses will barely eat the Bermuda that is available.  Seems it always gets worse before it gets better. I can't wait for the first cutting.    

I have one that is picky eater. She grazes good and I have lots of grass right now.

You have lots of grass?  Enjoy, it hasn't rained here in almost a month. April showers my foot. The rain has been around us, but not on us.   

My mare has actually been eating better here lately.  I found what I thought was a small tooth/part of a tooth in her feed bucket a few weeks back.  I asked my vet but he said it was a rock.  It looked like part of a tooth to me, it had a spot that looked like there used to be a root.  Not long after this she started eating some of the stems from the alfalfa and eating her feed a bit faster.  I also haven't found as many clumps of chewed grass/hay spit out every where.  Last night I gave her 2 leaves of coastal and she ate a bit over half of it.  She lost weight (its amazing how quick she can drop it), but she ate it and I didn't see any clumps of spit out hay anywhere.  If it wasn't a tooth, then I have no idea of how/why it might have been in her mouth.  But either way it fell out and maybe, just maybe that was her problem.  Maybe I should teach her how to floss? 

Ever hear of a horse with stuff stuck between their teeth?  She has had her teeth floated/checked about 7 times with 3 different vets in 2 years.  I don't think they would have all missed a rock in her mouth.

If you see lumps of chewed hay all over the place, she is having a problem chewing.  Forget the vets, get an equine dentist to look at her.  Equine teeth need more attention from a specialist, starting at a young age. One may be hard to find, but it is becoming more common.  Change is coming, the days of just floating the teeth every now and then is gone.  You can give your horse a better life and get a better ride if their teeth are kept in good working order.  I'd start there.

My vet has estimated her to be about 18-20.  I've tried the Sr. feeds and she doesn't like them.  She just turns her back on the bucket and won't eat.  I haven't heard about the Horsekwik.  I just started her on alfalfa pellets in Dec and she has gained lots of weight with that.  I'm just concerned about her getting enough of fiber and forage to keep her regular.  She is much better than she has been, but still no "apples".  It went from ocassional rockhard clumps to what looks like cowpatties.  And by ocassional I mean once a day.  We were having problems with impaction that my vet thinks is related to worm damage in the intestines. 

If I could ever figure out how to post pictures I'd show you what she looked like when I got her and what she looks like now.