Diet with Alfalfa - Chronicle Forums

So I am going to be moving my horse from NC to AZ and have him living in my back yard. Obviously I will now have total control over my horses diet, and in the past I have had decent control at the barns he has been at, but grass has always been included in his diet. I also know that Alfalfa is very common out there, and I know my horse loves Alfalfa as he was fed a mix at a show barn, he also has always looked very good while on a diet with alfalfa in it. The problem is I have heard that a mix is hard to find consistently, and recently when I looked at a fed store was more expensive than a bale of straight alfalfa or straight bermuda.

My question is does any one feed straight alfalfa close to free choice? I know I could buy both and try to mix it myself, but I also know unless I mix it well he will just waste the bermuda (I have been at shows where the horse next to him had an alfalfa mix and he could smell it and would NOT eat his grass hay and just banged on the stall for the mix and I had to buy some hay there that was mixed).

Next I know that alfalfa has more calories, so he would likely need less fortified feed (if much at all) and was wondering what would complement straight alfalfa? He is currently on TC complete and looks good, but on straight grass hay he gets just about 5-6lbs a day. Of course cost does play a part, I was thinking of putting him on TC Sr but both the Sr and complete are $22+ a bag, which I will pay if he needs the calories, but I am thinking with a mostly alfalfa diet he won't need as many calories from feed. What would you think about feeding?