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Alot of it depends on how much grain you're feeding. I don't
particularly like changing amounts too drastically from day to day---for
example, if you want your horse getting four pounds of grain a day, I
wouldn't suggest 1 pound on rest days and 7 pounds of work days---there
are just too many funky things that go on with fluid shifts and so on.
I agree with Tom that it's alot better to try not to have any TOTAL rest
days---try to have the horse lunged, turned out or SOMETHING or the odds
are higher you're going to run into some sort of problem, muscle-wise or
whatever. Alot of people get away with it, but I tend to run towards
"better safe than sorry".
>
> 2. How much soaked beet pulp is too much to feed on a daily basis? I
> am currently trying to add some weight to my mare, but don't want to
> feed too much. She is approx 15.3 hands, 1000 # and I am starting to
> condition for 50 milers.
Anybody that's read any of my posts for the past year knows I adore beet
pulp, even when the squirrel has been using it to spackle every orifice
in the house (and anyone who hasn't read that particular post is now
going, "say WHAT?"). My horses (maintenance, growing, pregnant and
working) get three to four pounds dryweight of beet pulp every day,
which is then soaked overnight 2 parts water to one part beet pulp and
fed in the morning. All of my horses just love it and have done VERY
well on it. Four pounds of soaked beet pulp pretty much fills a five
gallon bucket and it occupies them all morning, which in Spudnut's case,
means three or four fewer hours in the day that he's less likely to be
looking for some other horrible crime to commit.
As long as the horse was getting about 1.5% or a bit more of his body
weight in hay to provide adequate bulk, I don't think you really could
overfeed beet pulp. I just don't think a horse could stuff in enough to
cause any problems, since it doesn't cause the overload problems that
grain does. The one thing you do want to be careful about, though, is
to make sure it doesn't sit in the feed bucket long enough to start
getting sour, especially in warm weather. If for some reason there was
any beet pulp left after maybe three or four hours (hasn't happened yet
at my place), I'd probably remove it.
However, you might also consider adding some fat to the beet pulp rather
than trying to convince your horse to eat enormous quantities of beet
pulp. I happen to feed alot for the entertainment value and the
nutrients it contains, but if you had a hard-working horse that was on
an otherwise balanced diet and just needed more calories, you'd might be
better off upping the fat percent a bit. Beet pulp is also terrific for
hiding all kinds of goodies in, including oil.
Good luck,
Susan Garlinghouse
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