Okay. Alot of the thoroughbreds at our barn are fed beet pulp along with their other grain. I know what it is (I feed 3+ times a week), but was wondering what it does/ what it's for.
Thanks
It’s an excellent source of digestible fiber, with a relatively low crude protein content (averaging 8 to 10%), comparable to good-quality grass hay. Its digestible energy is somewhere between that of hay and grain. In terms of other nutrients, it’s not a stand-out—it has a relatively high calcium content and very little phosphorus, is low in B vitamins, and has virtually no beta-carotene (the precursor of vitamin A) or vitamin D. Its chief value is as a soft, easily digestible supplement to your horse’s roughage (fiber) intake, and as such it’s a useful addition to the diet of many types of horses.
Feeding beet pulp if your horse is a "hard keeper" (it’s very good for encouraging weight gain), if he has dental problems that make chewing hay difficult, if the quality of your hay is poor, or if you have a geriatric horse who has trouble chewing or digesting other types of forage. It can be fed in addition to, or instead of, hay. Beet pulp’s excellent digestibility also makes it a great choice for a convalescing horse—one recovering from illness or surgery, for example. It even can be fed warm in the winter months, just like a bran mash (and nutritionally, it’s a better choice than bran). Most horses find it quite palatable, although occasionally you’ll come across one who considers it an acquired taste. I Have fed it to many of my horses to keep weight on and to put weight on. I also had a bottom less pit of a horse that would eat the whole barn if you let him, I fed beet pulp so I wasent feeding him so much hay!!
I soak it for 12 hours and I have never had a problem with it and it works really well.
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