 |
Re: [RC] Stall Rest? part 2 - superpatGo to Susan Garlinghouse's sight and read up on the wonders of beet pulp. Also 1/2 cup of oil a day can be increased up to 2 cups. I prefer to give my horses the vegitable based Fat Pak. Two of my horses get 1 cup twice a day mixed in with soaked beet pulp and rice bran in a wet slurry. They love it. My purpose for the high fiat diet is to help ward off tie-ups but it should also aid in getting your horse back to a good weight. Here is one of Susan's suggestions to someone on ridecamp with suggestions for adding weight.... and good luck, Pat Her fitness and endurance is fine but I am having a problem keeping weight on. I have had a vet out to cover all the bases; parasites are negative, blood work came out fine, and thyroid is also normal. I have her on grass and hay, she is getting almost 9lbs of feed a day (A mix of 10% alfalfa pellets, and pennfield enduraevent). She keeps getting thin in the flank area and sometimes some along the topline and ribs. Any help is appreciated. Beet pulp, beet pulp, beet pulp. There's an article on my website with alot more details www.shady-acres.com/susan/ but it really is great stuff. I'm assuming that when you say she's getting nine pounds of feed a day, you mean 9 pounds of pellets and enduraevent in addition to hay and pasture, right? So here are my suggestions. Eliminate the alfalfa pellets, because their caloric content is only marginally higher than grass hay and while their higher protein level *can* be used by the body for energy production (including the production of fat), it's an inefficient pathway---sort of like using dollar bills to light a fire. It'll work but there are better ways. I'd gradually replace the presumably 4-5 pounds of alfalfa pellets with 4-5 pounds (dry weight) of beet pulp instead. Just doing that is going to increase the caloric content in the total ration by about 10%---not a tremendous amount, but a good start. If you want, you can increase the beet pulp beyond 4-5 pounds, but will probably have to decrease her hay ration by an equivalent amount. Don't worry, the beet pulp still counts as forage, even though it's not exactly hay. You can replace up to half of her total forage ration with beet pulp. Remember, that's dry weight beet pulp, after which you should ideally soak it with water. Try to split it into multiple feedings if you can manage it. You can also add some fats to the beet pulp, my preference is good quality corn oil. Keep it in a tightly lidded container in a dark, cool place. A frig if you can manage it, though the weather is already cooling off most places. Start with just a dollop in the beet pulp until she accepts it and work up to two cups per beet pulp mash. You can feed more fats total than that, but 2 cups per meal will maximize your digestive efficiency. If she turns her nose up at it, back down on the amount, mix some grain or other goodies into the beet pulp and make sure the oil is really fresh---if exposed to heat/light/air it will start to go rancid within about ten days, which the horses can smell and that's what they're usually objecting to. You can also try adding some probiotic cultures to her feed. I happen to like Fastrack, or Yea-Sacc if you can find it. Some of the commercial brands already contain yea-sacc, Pennfield *might* already. Give her some time to adjust to feed changes and keep track of weight changes with a weight tape. I've had pretty good luck getting weight onto bunches and bunches athletic horses with this program, including my own. Good luck, Susan G ----- Original Message ----- From: <spiritwood@xxxxxxxxx> To: <ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Friday, May 02, 2003 7:09 AM Subject: [RC] Stall Rest? part 2 Hi again, Thanks so much for some great ideas! I have move one of my minis into the stall with him and he is a much calmer guy. Both are doing and eating well but I know it will take time to gain back some of the almost 90 pounds he has lost in the last week. He looks like he just finished a 100 and just barely made it. Now how to help build him back up without risking colic/founder/NDR(not doing right)? He has all the hay and water he can eat and drink, and grain twice daily(Equine Senior/sweet feed mix). He also gets 1/2 cup canola oil a day. Other suggestions? Otherwise the vet(Jeannie Waldron) will yell at me next week when she sees him again. Help! Becky and Bacardi -------------------------------------------------------------------- mail2web - Check your email from the web at http://mail2web.com/ . Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
|