Tag Archives: beet pulp for horses

Horse Feeding Myths & Misconceptions

Posted on by

0

Occasionally I will post an article from one of my friends in the equine nutrition field. One of the best of the best is Dr. Marty Adams.  I learn something every time I am with Marty.  Here is a great article he wrote about some of the common Myths & Misconceptions in feeding your horse.  Hope you learn something too 🙂

By: Dr. Marty Adams (PhD Equine Nutrition)

“Compared to most classes of livestock, there seems to be more myths and misconceptions when it comes to feeding horses. Many of these feeding myths appear to be long-held traditions that have been passed down from horse owner to horse owner. These myths or misconceptions are likely due to the fear of harming the horse, a lack of understanding of the feedstuff or the feeding practice, or thinking that the horse’s digestive system or nutrient requirements are similar to that of the human horseman. The old adage that “It’s always been done this way!” can be a powerful argument in keeping a tradition alive, in spite of scientific fact. We now have some scientific evidence that some of these “horse tales” are not true and may be harmful to the horse, so let’s review some of the most common horse feeding myths and misconceptions. Continue reading →

Welcome Ralph, the lastest member of The Nerd Herd!

Posted on by

0

Hello Everyone,

I thought it might be useful to do some posts about horses we are helping through this site.  I will try to post one write up per week about a nutrition consultation, beginning with Ralph.

Image

Ralph is a 24 year old quarter horse that came through this past winter with a significant weight loss.  It’s hard to tell from this picture but his Body Condition Score (BCS) is a 4+ but he should be a 6.  He is 15 hands tall and should weigh around 800 pounds.  We used a weight tape to calculate his current weight and he measured at 645 lbs.  That is a significant amount of loss.

Ralph is not in any work and has free range of his 3 acre pasture (as you can see from the burdocks in his forelock) 🙂  His owner was feeding him “2 coffee cans of sweet feed a day and timothy hay, not sure of the amount.”  After measuring Ralph, we measured the feed and hay.  Turns out he was only getting 2 pounds of feed that has a recommended feeding rate of 6 pounds per day for a horse his size. So he was obviously not getting enough.

The hay was on the lighter side too with the bale weighing 40 pounds, the quality was average, making the amount Ralph was receiving low in weight and digestible energy (DE). His pasture was adequate but not enough to add much in nutrient value.

It’s easy to look at this and think adding volume will fix this but we must remember that this same diet was “good enough” to keep Ralph fat in the past so we needed to figure out why it wasn’t working now.

The answer was Ralph’s teeth.  He hadn’t had them done in awhile and they were not helping him chew the long stem hay and the whole grain concentrate.  Without proper chewing the feedstuff cannot be absorbed and metabolized by the digestive system.

So Ralph’s owner scheduled a visit with his vet.  I have found that older horses do best with a diet that is dust-free, easy to chew and digest, and based on digestible fiber instead of grain. So I switched his diet (gradually of course) to a beet pulp and alfalfa cube mash  based on the weight we WANT Ralph to be rather than on his current weight.

We developed a program of .5% of his body weight (BW) in mash (so ~ 4 lbs/day) and 1 % of hay/forage (~8 lbs/day). Therefore Ralph will be getting a daily total of 4 pounds of dried beet pulp mixed with 1 pound of alfalfa cubes soaked in water with a 2:1 (water to feedstuff) ratio.  This is divided into two feedings per day.

Ralph’s program will still include about 8-10 pounds of hay a day offered but with the soaked mash he won’t be relying on the hay for fiber.

Eliminating the sweet feed also eliminated a energy dense feed source but the alfalfa cubes (~1,000 Calories/pound) and beet pulp (~1,100 Calories/pound) will make up for the Calories.

A good daily vitamin/mineral supplant was added to ensure Ralph gets what he needs.  If you would like to get some of the benefits of beet pulp but don’t need the soaking chore, try switching to one of the commercial beet pulp based feeds like Triple Crown Senior or Complete.

A few tips on feeding beet pulp: Dry beet pulp weighs about 0.6 lbs per quart so a 2 quart scoop will hold 1. 2 pounds.  Soak it for at least 30 minutes using warm water.  Longer if using cold.  A pony shouldn’t get more than 2 lbs of dry beet pulp per day, a young horse no more than 4 pounds and most mature horses should get less than 6 pounds of dried beet pulp per day.

I’m happy to say that Ralph loves his new diet and is starting to bloom again after only 3 weeks!

If you’d like your horse to become a member of the Nerd Herd, please schedule a consult today http://www.happyhorsehealthyplanet.com/consulting.html

~Peace and Good Feed,

The Nerd

 

Concentrates in Horse Diet

Posted on by

1

HappyHorseHealthyPlanet._Concentrates_Cover

In equine nutrition solid feeds fall into three categories: forages (such as hay and grass), Concentrates (including grain or pelleted rations), and supplements (such as prepared vitamin or mineral pellets).  Basically any whole grain, formulated feed (sweet or pellet) or other non-forage, non-vitamin/mineral supplement is referred to as a Concentrate.

HappyHorseHealthyPlanet.com._Horse Feed Scoop

Pelleted Concentrate

The average horse should be able to get what it needs for maintenance from a diet of good quality forage.  Therefore, Concentrates should be considered only if certain nutrients are missing from the forage to meet the needs of the horse.

Depositphotos_4844621_mIn general, a mature horse does not require the energy that would be provided by Concentrate type feeds unless the horse is used for more than light work, in production such as a lactating mare or a breeding stallion, or if the horse is growing.

Free yong brown foal in mountainsIt’s important that horse owners understand the importance of a balanced the ration where the proper amount and ratios of minerals, vitamins, proteins, fats, carbohydrates, etc., are maintained for correct growth and maintenance. Too many times horses are over fed rather than underfed Concentrates.

Continue reading →

Complete Feeds For Horses

Posted on by

0

HappyHorseHealthyPlanet.ENN_Complete Feeds CoverWhat are they?

A Complete feed is a fortified grain/forage mix that is formulated with high quality fiber sources.  This means that the feed contains enough fiber (in addition to minerals and vitamins) that a horse can live on that diet without supplemental hay or pasture.

Most Complete feeds have a fiber content of 15% or more and use good digestible fiber sources such as alfalfa, beet pulp, and soy hulls.  They have both the grain and roughage in them and are designed to (at least) partially replace the forage (hay and/or pasture) in your horse’s diet.

Continue reading →