ridecamp@endurance.net: Re: wheat vs rice bran

Re: wheat vs rice bran

Mike Sofen (miksof7@gte.net)
Sun, 19 Oct 1997 21:10:23 -0700

My new arab was losing weight with the workload we moved into until I went
to a high fat diet - LMF Enduro mixed with 1/3 rice bran plus free choice
hay. He finally started gaining weight. The rice bran was very palatable
to him, and clearly, his coat and general appearance improved. However,
the phosphorus issue cannot be ignored.

However, the economics up here in the NW are different. Rice bran costs
under $12 per 50 lb bag, so it is quite inexpensive. Also, this arab is
extremely sensitive to grain, so adding grain to his diet would mean I'd
have a nutso horse. Instead, I'm adding corn oil to make up the calories
instead of more rice bran. I've also switched to the VitaMax product (from
Tom Ivers) which includes probiotics for maximum feed utilization.

Mike Sofen
Seattle, WA

>>
Here's where the "rice bran is a fat source" thing comes in. Yes, rice
bran does have a relatively high fat content for a grain product,
somewhere between 15-20%. Fine. But if you're trying to putting
weight onto a horse, what you care about is the total *energy* content
of the feed, not whether that energy is provided in the form of fat or
carbohydrates. It is true that there is some benefit to feeding a high
fat diet to endurance horses, but the tiny amount of "fat" you're
feeding by feeding rice bran isn't going to make a damn bit of
difference to anyone but the rice bran feed mill owners So the calories
in wheat bran are just as good as putting on weight as are the calories
in rice bran, except that wheat bran has a higher calorie density than
rice bran on a ounce for ounce basis. Wheat bran contains 2.94 Mcal per
kg, rice bran 2.62 Mcal, or only 89% as much. I bought a 40 lb bag of
wheat bran yesterday for $6.95. Last time I looked (which isn't often),
rice bran was $21.95 for 50 pounds. If you figure out the comparative
costs per Mcal of energy in each, regardless of whether that energy came
from fat or carbos, than I paid $0.13 a Mcal for wheat bran, while the
price per Mcal from rice bran would've been $0.37 per Mcal. Plus, of
course, wheat bran contains .44 grams less of phosphorus for every kilo
(2.2 pounds). I don't mind spending money on my horses when there's a
good reason, but why throw it away? I just don't think the price or the
marketing hype of rice bran is justified.
<<
Susan

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