My Vet and I were discussing the body condition of my minis and what it has taken to get them to the correct weights and keep them there. As miniature horses are notoriously "easy keepers" it is easy to over feed them. Feed bags offer charts that show what to feed according to a horse's weight. If I fed my miniatures according to their weight or the bag instructions they'd be blimps. I feed according to their body condition using their weight only as a very rough guideline for newly acquired minis in good body condition already.
This is a link to the Henneke Body Scoring System. Check your minis with this chart to see whether you need to be feeding more, less or even just a different type of feed/hay: http://www.habitatforhorses.org/rescues/bodyscoring.html
Most of the miniature horses I have purchased have come to me over weight. We bought a bred mare several years ago. The owner had left her with the stallion all year so we didn't know when she was due to foal. She was immense when she arrived and looked as if she was due at any moment. We prepared a foaling stall for her, aimed the barn cam at her and began watching, checking, waiting. 7 months later she produced a fabulous colt. By the time she delivered she was as wide as any full sized horse because she was so obese! It has taken two years to get her safely down to the correct body condition.
When a new miniature horse arrives at the farm, it arrives with the feed it is used to eating. I live in desert Arizona. We don't have grass pastures for the horses here. We rely on baled hay to supply the roughage their systems need. Many people feed their horses here alfalfa hay. It is cheap and readily available. However, most horses do not need the high energy/protein that alfalfa provides. Horses such as minis, without access to pasture, do better on with a grass hay such as bermuda or a bermuda/alfalfa mix where YOU do the mixing. Grass/alfalfa "mix" bales sold in feed stores in Arizona are about 80 to 90 percent alfalfa.
There are certainly uses for alfalfa with miniature horses. Minis being prepped for shows in which they will be driven or jumped could use alfalfa mixed in with their grass hay for the extra protein boost, as these horses are generally given rigorous workouts for an hour or two daily. Pregnant mares need the extra protein and calcium from a bit of alfalfa added to their grass hay. Weanlings as well can benefit from adding alfalfa to their ration of grass as their growing bones and ligaments need the extra nutrition. I have, at no time, found it necessary to feed straight alfalfa to a miniature horse. Rather, I have found straight alfalfa to be detrimental to my minis.
Feeding my pregnant mare straight alfalfa during the mare's first 6 months produced fat mare and a foal with a severely turned in ankle. His ankle did straighten after several weeks once the tendon relaxed. Conversely, feeding only SafeChoice feed and grass hay produced foals with tendons so lax that they were walking on the backs of their heels for several weeks. This past breeding season I fed the mares SafeChoice, and mixed their hay at about 20 percent alfalfa to 80 percent grass. The foals were positively perfect, the mares stayed in fabulous fit and they produced milk abundantly.
I laughed and told my Vet that my horses gain weight just watching the hay arrive in the back of the pickup truck. I use alfalfa as a supplement during pregnancy and as part of my preparations should they go off feed for some reason during the winter. Alfalfa is not evil, it is simply overdone. A handful of alfalfa with their normal ration of grain and grass during the winter, encourages the horses to drink well and gets them used to a good tasting food to tempt them if they lose their appetites. The calcium it provides to developing equine fetuses strengthens their bones and tendons. Too much and you risk laminitis in adult horses and contracted tendons in newborns. Unless your miniature horse is doing the work of a racing thoroughbred, use alfalfa sparingly.
Switching a newly purchased horse that has been eating lush green pasture grass over to eating our baled bermuda, is one of the hardest tasks I face. If they're used to eating baled alfalfa, the change takes time but it's much easier. It's not like the previous owner can send part of their pasture along with the horse to help me with a gradual switch. This is the only time I've had colic issues with my horses (pardon me while I knock on my huge wooden headboard). I soak beet pulp, mix a bit of that in with about 1/4 their usual amount of grain, and give them a couple of handfuls of grass hay. Then, I wait for them to pass manure. I do this every couple of hours. They wonder what circle of hell their former owner consigned them to and I kick myself for not finding a good horse from a desert climate. Within 4 to 5 days they're doing well and eating 4 short meals a day and I'm exhausted from getting up at night to give them their handful sized meals. But, I'd rather spend that 4 days waking up several times a night to feed them than stay up walking and watching a horse with the colic or loading it up for an expensive vet clinic visit or emergency surgery.
Do your horse, and likely yourself, a favor and feed him at the same time at least twice daily. I know, I know, I've had this conversation with friends before. However, the facts show that horses are more prone to ulcers, bad habits, bad behavior, gas colic, choke (from bolting the food that arrives late), and myriad other issues if they don't know when their next meal is coming. Think of it this way. If you're bedridden and totally dependent upon someone bringing your meals to your bed. You're hungry, they're perpetually late. Your stomach acids are going nuts waiting for food to digest. You are miserable. Don't do that to your horse. If he's on pasture, it's not so bad. He has snacks. But if he's relying on you to bring the whole meal don't do that to him. Adjust his feeding schedule to fit yours and if you can't be there to feed him on time, make sure someone else is.
The big clues to a healthy horse are that he eats, drinks, passes manure and urinates. When any of these are off, you have a problem. You cannot know how much your horse is drinking if you have an automatic watering system. I'm sorry, I know, "they're so convenient!" If a horse is not drinking well, it cannot digest well. Horses are notorious for not drinking well in winter. If your horse isn't drinking enough he's not going to be able to digest his food well. This is why more colics happen during the winter months. If you knew your horse was not drinking enough, you could give him electrolytes to encourage him to drink more and thus avoid big trouble. Yup. It's a pain in the butt keeping water buckets clean and filled. But it's better for the animal. It's difficult for a miniature horse to dump a 20 gallon tub of water so, to me, this is more reliable than automatic watering systems that can, and often do, break down due to the corrosion of their parts. A horse can dehydrate in a matter of hours. Studies have shown that horses drink better when they can drink in a head down position. The benefits of the manual water bucket fill and clean system far outweigh the convenience of the automatic watering systems. Might not be what you want to hear or what you want to believe, but there it is.
After raising multiple foals and trying all kinds of feed and hay. I say with perfect confidence that the absolute best thing you can feed your weanlings is Purina Equine Junior. No, I do not work for, with or know anyone with that company. I've seen photos of big bellied weanlings for sale, owned big bellied weanlings and talked to vets about the big weanling belly. With Equine Junior, my weanlings no longer get this big belly. Even though Equine Junior is a complete feed, I still give them grass hay along with it and only feed to body condition, not according to bag instructions. They grow straight, strong, stay active and progress beautifully. Once again, should your weanling get the flu or a cold and go off their feed, Equine junior can be soaked, spooned into a syringe and squirted slowly, a little at a time, into their cheek until they feel more like eating again. I keep them on Equine Junior until they are 2 years old.
In summation, feed according to the body condition of your horse. If you can see rib, add grain in small increments until he begins to pick weight up gradually. If he's too fat, cut back in small increments until he gradually loses down to a healthy weight. Gradual increases or decreases in feed help you to figure out how much to feed to maintain optimum body condition. Feed at least twice daily (if they don't have pasture, 3 times daily is better, 4 is fabulous if you can manage it) and feed at regular times of the day. Use alfalfa more like a supplement than a meal. Know how much your horse drinks. Feed your weanlings a good supportive feed designed for the growth and digestive needs of a growing foal.
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