RE: [RC] beet pulp - Susan E. Garlinghouse, D.V.M.
From: ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On
Behalf Of Letstalkhealth@xxxxxxx Sent: Friday, July 08, 2005 9:15
PM To: ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [RC] beet pulp
How
much beet pulp do you competitive endurance riders feed at a time? and 1
or 2 X daily?When you figure how many # of beet pulp, is that before or after
soaking in water? Thanks, Lisa
It varies, based on how much your horse
needs to maintain weight. Some people with ‘air ferns’ only
feed a few cups to keep the horse accustomed to it, so they can feed more of it
at rides without having introduced something new. Horses that are harder
keepers can replace up to about half of their forage ration with beet pulp (dry
weight, prior to soaking). So that can easily be 12 or 15 pounds of the
stuff dry weight. Yes, horses can eat that much --- I’ve owned two
that can stuff down that much in a day and still be knee deep in their hay when
the next bucket is due to show up. One of those horses ate it dry, the
other always got it soaked. Elderly horses that have lost their teeth
manage very well on a diet comprised entirely of soaked beet pulp and some
supplements.
As to how much at one sitting, it depends
on heat and weather conditions. If it’s hot, you don’t want
it sitting around forever---although elderly beet pulp tends to just start fermenting,
not going moldy, and it’s not a huge deal within reason. If it’s
freezing out, you have a limited amount of time before it starts to freeze
solid. I prefer it be gone within twelve hours regardless of conditions,
less than that is better. Other than that, it doesn’t really matter
whether you break it up into one or two or more feedings. Beet pulp isn’t
like some other feeds (like fats), where you lose some feed efficiency if too
much is fed at once.
The only caveat is to increase amounts
slowly, starting with a cup or two of soaked beet pulp and gradually increasing
by a few cups per week. Not everyone, but some horses develop some
gassiness (since BP is a highly fermentable fiber) and better to be cautious
than have to call a vet for a crampy horse.
