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Feeding beet pulp

10K views 24 replies 9 participants last post by  wishfoal 
#1 ·
So I am switching my mare, who is currently on oats, to beet pulp, for a few reasons. First of all, my mare is...

* just under 1,000 lbs
* 14.1 hh QH who is built stocky and a very easy keeper
* very active (we Event, and she is ridden 5x/week with 1-2 of those being jumping lessons)
* turned out daily in a pasture with *some* grass but mainly just the hay they put out -- Timothy mix
* she is allergic to both soybean and molasses, so there seem to be NO commercial feeds she can have that don't contain at least ONE of those, or a by product or soy bean oil/hulls.

...SOOO I have her on plain old crimped oats, with a vitamin supplement from SmartPak (EZ Keeper grass).

But she also eats her hay VERY fast and my Barn manager doesn't want to feed her more (nor does my vet) because she's going to get a hay belly according to them. I don't know whether I believe that or not, but they won't feed her more soooo...

I heard that beet pulp is more digestible than oats are, especially if the horse finishes her hay quickly and won't have any for 10-12 hours each night (she is done with it by like 7pm and they won't feed again until 5 or 6 in the morning).

So I'm going to go get some beet pulp from the feed store tonight, and I know you have to soak it BUT...

1. How long do I need to soak it/with how much water?
2. How much should I be feeding her (twice daily), knowing what you know above?

Here are some photos of her from this weekend by the way, just to give you an idea of her size/build (keep in mind that I make her look larger than she is haha! I'm only 5'1" and 115 lbs) ;)



 
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#2 ·
Im not sure about how much/how often to feed. But you do not have to soak it. In fact, a lot of horses wont eat it if its soaked. And make sure that it doesnt have molasses added to sweeten it.
 
#3 ·
Depending on the type of Speedi-Beet you have, you don't have to soak it. However if your horse is liable to choke, then soaking is a great idea.

I personally only feed a small-ish amount - Half of one of our scoops which soaks to be a fair amount.

Sorry i can't be of more help, lol!

Bit of trivia, Speedi-Beet actually has comparable energy levels to oats, but in a MUCH easier digested form.
 
#4 ·
I just heard tonight that since beet pulp does have some sugar in it my mare may not be able to have it at all :(

She is allergic to molasses and I'm waiting on the lab that did her allergy testing to let me know whether that means she can't have any kind of sugar at all...
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#5 ·
Correct me if I'm wrong but soaking beet pulp and then draining it removes much of the sugar. When I used to feet beet pulp I would always soak/drain. If your horse will eat it that way, better safe than sorry in large quantities IMO!

I would feed him a little less than a full 3-quarts scoop which, when soaked, turned into a lot! I didn't feed it for long though and basically started weaning him off of it pretty quickly as I inherited his old diet.

Would soak for 15-25 minutes and fill up the bucket with enough water to saturate the entire thing with a little extra water at the top :)
 
#6 ·
Grass has sugar in it!

Beet Pulp doesn't have much as it is the by product of extracting the sugar.

It is a recommended feed for laminitic horses.

I would think if it comes back that she can't have beet pulp due to the small amount of sugar then she shouldn't be on grass either, which can be very high in sugar, especially when stressed.
 
#7 ·
Beet pulp is 10x better then oats. Why? Because beet pulp is a forage (like hay) and oats are not. A horse was designed and equipped to eat forages, not concentrates (grains). We only feed our crew beet pulp and complete feed, you can avoid a vast majority of colic by eliminating concentrates from a horses diet or at least lessening them.

Oats digest as straight sugar and really have no true nutritional value for horses - it's like a kid eating chocolate. It'll make him bounce off the walls with energy, but they burn through it fast and it's just not adequete for hard working horses.

If your horse can eat oats, she can certainly eat beet pulp. Oats are nothing BUT sugar, much like pastas and potatoes for us.

 
#8 ·
Beet pulp is 10x better then oats. Why? Because beet pulp is a forage (like hay) and oats are not. A horse was designed and equipped to eat forages, not concentrates (grains). We only feed our crew beet pulp and complete feed, you can avoid a vast majority of colic by eliminating concentrates from a horses diet or at least lessening them.
That's why I wanted to switch her, but the "nutritionist" with the feed store I went to is the one who scared me away from it...oh well, no matter, I have a call in to my vet about it, as well as the lab who did the allergy testing on her and found that she is allergic to molasses. So I guess hopefully sometime this week I'll be able to get to the bottom of this!

I did think it was kind of strange, as I have also heard that beet pulp is what they feed to insulin resistant horses! :shock: ???
 
#13 ·
JUst look for beet pulp without molasses ... :) problem sloved...

there is only 1 to 5% molasses in most beet pulp anyway... there is just enough to keep the dust down
 
#14 ·
Well that's what I did but even the kind without molasses is a by product of the sugar beet so I'm waiting on the vet now to tell me whether her being allergic to molasses means she can't have any sugar or just not molasses in particular.
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#17 ·
if she was allergic to all sugars you would be in BIG trouble since all feedstuff has some in it...

I would bet it is molasses not sugar itself
 
#20 ·
This link may help clear up a few questions on Beet pulp The Myths and Reality of Beet Pulp - Susan Evans Garlinghouse I have in the past mixed Rice bran and Beet pulp, and found this to be an excellent mix particularly on a working horse. I would put a small salt brick in his tub, so he has to push it around to get all the feed and therefore slowing him down a little..

I hope this helps
I actually just read the above before I posted, great article! :) I do really hope that molasses and sugar aren't one and the same for her! That's going to make it VERY difficult to feed her ANYTHING but oats if so... :-/ Still waiting on the vet to let me know...
 
#21 ·
Molasses can be made from sugar beets but more commonly is made from cane sugar.

What is her allergic reaction?

It might be worth a try to get her some beet pulp with out molasses and see how she does.
 
#22 ·
Like I already said, if she were allergic to ALL sugar she would not be able to eat grass. Oats also contain sugar alogn with starch.

Speedi Beet has little to NO sugar because it is the by product of REMOVING the sugar.

I feed Speedi-Beet without molassess as I don't feed molasses either, for different reasons.
 
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