RE: [RC] Ultium Question - Susan E. Garlinghouse, DVM
Yes, Ultium is still a 12%/high fat feed. BUT, 12% of even
4-5 pounds isn’t all that much actual fat, especially if you’re
feeding it (as you should be) along with a truckload of forage. So, no, I
don’t consider that much to be an issue, especially when you weigh it
against the benefits of not changing the ration at a ride. I don’t
feed anything at a ride that she isn’t used to getting at home, except
for whatever she can snitch from a neighbor’s feed pan.
What I DON’T recommend is actually adding pure fat
directly to the ration, ie corn oil, Cool Calories or the like. The
reason is that fat has a higher satiety factor than forages or simple
carbohydrates, so a really high fat meal may decrease their appetite for
forage---and you want these guys to start off and maintain a GI tract stuffed
with forage, for all the reasons previously mentioned. The
energy/calories from added fat won’t be immediately available for energy
production during the ride, so there’s no advantage there. If
someone wanted to top-dress with a high-fat feed (rice bran, HES, anything like
that), or continue to supply the normal feed that also happens to have up to
12% or so fat content, I think that’s okay. You just shouldn’t
be pouring oil on top of the ration. And you should never syringe liquid
oils, EVER, let alone at a ride---liquid oils don’t elicit a good
swallowing reflex and there’s too much of a chance of some going down the
windpipe instead of down the esophagus.
Does that make sense?
Susan Garlinghouse, DVM
From:
ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On
Behalf Of FXLivestock@xxxxxxx Sent: Tuesday, November 06, 2007 12:09 PM To: ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [RC] Ultium Question
When
Ultium came out, I believe in 2004, it was described as a high fat feed.
If I recall, it was over 12% fat. Recently, I thought it was in the
best interest of our horses to reduce the amount of fat we feed at
competition. In fact, I have heard that it is best to stop feeding
oil/fat a few days before a ride. For those who
use Ultium, do you consider the fat content in Ultium a problem for
feeding at rides? Just curious as this is one of the highest fat
concentrates/grain rations on the market that I know about. If not,
why is it recommended to reduce fat/oil intake during competition and right
before competition. Of course, I am assuming that Ultium still has
12% + fat content. Perhaps the formulation has changed?
