Why do people feed lucerne to horses and what are the benefits?

Lucerne is a roughage that in Sweden is usually sold by the bag as pellets or chopped. You can also make lucerne hay and lucerne haylage, but that is not very common in Sweden. Lucerne is high in protein and calcium and can make a good addition to the ration if your roughage is late-cut and low in nutrients. You can also feed lucerne to thin horses with a poor appetite or trouble chewing. In that case it is because the lucerne is finely chopped, so the horses can take in more food for less chewing.