ridecamp@endurance.net: Re: Beet Pulp

Re: Beet Pulp

Patricia Chase (ponies@foothills.eznet.com)
Mon, 3 Mar 1997 07:51:17 -0800

>Or tried feeding it, with what results.
>
>I am very interested to know.
>

Hi Becky,
I have 2 elderly horses, a 36 year old QH mare and a 25 year old Paso Fino
stallion, that have been on beet pulp for the last 3 years. I started
feeding it on recommenation of a veterinarian because they both had trouble
maintaining weight, despite adequate diet of Purina Equine Senior. I soak a
1-quart pan full of beet pulp pellets in half of a 5-gallon bucket of water.
In the winter I use warm water and mix it up about an hour before I go out
to feed; in the summer I use tap water and mix it up the night before. It
is *very* important to make sure the pellets are thoroughly soaked before
feeding, as the dry pellets can cause choking and intestinal obstruction,
according to the vet.

I feed each horse one and a half quarts of the soaked beet pulp and an equal
amount of LMF Prime Time, to which I switched from the Purina Equine Senior
because it has Yea-Sacc and a probiotic in it. They get timothy-bluegrass
hay with just a little bit of alfalfa. The old mare also loves to eat her
straw, who knows why---I let her have whatever she wants; at her age, she
won't die young of it! Both horses are doing well and maintain weight even
through our cold and snowy winters. The stallion still breeds a couple of
mares a year.

The Archives should have some articles on the nutritional properties of beet
pulp, so I won't go into that here. I hope this helps.

Happy Trails,

Patty

Patty and The Roan

Rainbow Paso Fino Ranch
4331 Garden Spot Rd.
Clayton, WA 99110

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