[Actually last winter it was cold so long and regularly that they were getting beet pulp pretty much daily for a month or two.] Read *vet handbooks Hi my elderly mare has trouble keeping weight on and Im feeding her beet pulp mixed with grain and weight builder supplement.

Rice bran is an excellent product for improving body condition and topline of thin horses because it is a combination of rice oil and highly digestible fiber. Chromium yeast has been effective in reducing the incidence of chronic founder in some ponies and the incidence of chronic tying up in some horses with intolerance to high grain diets.

When quality fiber in the form of pasture or hay is not available, or if the horse does not readily eat hay, there are alternative fiber sources that may add fiber energy to the diet. Wed also recommend checking in with your veterinarian to review your mares diet and also to determine if there are any underlying issues contributing to her struggles with her weight.

Bran is made up of complex carbohydrates that require bacteria to ferment them so it especially needs this break in period.

All this discussion about wheat bran is prompting me to ask.. (Smartvite has 3000 mg calcium). One of the problems with bran mashes is the imbalance in the calcium to phosphorus ratio. Lydia F. Gray, DVM, MA Being high fiber, these complex carbohydrates make it all the way back to the cecum and colon where microorganisms ferment the hay to the end product of energy, which equals calories and warmth. Its important to understand that this article is based on faulty arguments. The process of pelleting involves heat which results in improved enzymatic digestion of corn; extruding improves it even more. Contact our advice team for a free ration analysis. Obtaining energy from starch is actually more efficient because it is a simple enzymatic process. Pasture is also a source of fiber. The acidic environment kills the bacteria.

Of course, your local vet is your best resource for the most appropriate diet for your horse, so be sure and talk to him or her about this same topic. I also give them more hay as the temperature drops, below zero it is free choice and they usually have hay leftover. But I read a similar article 3 months ago about bran and about the disadvantages of disrupting their normal diet once a week for a mash but read that it could be helpful to add a small amount to their daily feed in order for them to be used to having it in their diet. In general, members of certain breeds have faster metabolisms and need more food to maintain body condition than members of other breeds. Just free, every day. Most brans such as rice are fortified with calcium to ensure the proper ratios of calcium to phosphorus. If there is more leaf and less stem, or if the stems have not matured to become stiff and inflexible, the digestible fiber portion of the hay will be higher. It is not bad for them.

How much SHOULD your horse be getting each day? Without sufficient amylase in the intestinal tract, much of the starch in the diet passes through to the large intestine where it is fermented. So if youre feeding a bran mash to heat your horse up from the inside on cold winter days, try feeding more hay. Kathy, I applaud you for wanting to give your horse the best treatment possible for this benign skin tumor. Call me old-fashioned, but I firmly believe that horses diets should not be abruptly altered by adding a new feedstuff on an occasional basis. Always healthy! Many new feeds are appearing on the markets that incorporate high fat levels (> 6%) with high fiber ingredients like beet pulp or soy hulls. By signing up, you will be opted in to receive promotional email offers from SmartPak. It is possible that feeding bran long-term can alter your horses calcium to phosphorus ratio but whether or not the amount you are feeding is enough to be an issue will be dependent on the rest of her diet. All Rights Reserved. As quantities of seeds fed increases, consumption will frequently slow, sometimes to the point of total refusal. The vets I have talked to said it is a good practice. I read the article so now Im a little worried . Unfortunately, the risks of feeding regular wheat bran with its inverted calcium to phosphorous ratio outweigh the benefits it may have to horses at risk for colic. All Rights reserved.

Bran has a ratio of 1:12, which means it has a lot more phosphorus than calcium. Required fields are marked *. Other common sources of fat include rice bran, linseed, sunflower seeds, full fat soybeans and coconut meal (copra meal). Dr. Lydia Gray.

Dr. Lydia Gray. Our horse 16 year old Oldenburg is going to college with my daughter the end of August. Alfalfa is too hot for him. See official sweepstakes rules for complete details.

Ive been watching a sarcoid in my 12-yr. old AQHA geldings ear for almost four years. Dr. Lydia Gray. As well as being a highly concentrated energy source, fat has several other advantages. Im feeding a bit of bran mash 3x/day to get some medication (Ranitidine) into my horse he gets about a cup of mash with a handful of sweet feed.

A young plant harvested prior to maturity will have a lower lignin content than a plant allowed maturing before cutting. Dr. Lydia Gray. I have minitures ranging in age from 7 years to 19 years. Is it enough to stress them out?

There truly isnt a good reason to feed bran mash daily when considering the negative effects, especially when better and more effective options are readily available. Ive been giving more with the long spell of subfreezing weather. Im feeding a wet mash of beet pulp/timothy grass pellets (1:1) plus 5 pounds Triple Crown Senior and 3 handfuls of chopped alfalfa to my elderly mare who cannot eat hayshe doesnt have enough teeth left. My father fed hot bran mash every day in the winter,lots of it. Dr. Lydia Gray.

Hi Kristin, first of all I give you a lot of credit for all of the great things youre doing to help your horse achieve a healthier weight. More research is necessary to establish the efficacy of feeding supplemental enzymes.

Since youre feeding a small amount, youre feeding it every day, and you dont plan to continue past a month, all the issues pointed out above that have to do with long-term, irregular feeding of large amounts of wheat bran mash dont apply in your case. Of course, your local vet is your best resource for the most appropriate diet for your horse, so be sure and talk to him or her about this same topic.

Thanks! At the barn I board my horse they give a scoop of bran with oils once a week after regular feedings Is this harmful?

As a precaution, please give her a nice warm very wet bran mash. Another problem with a weekly bran mash or an occasional bran mash before or after a trip is that it is a sudden change in the horses diet, something were taught never to do.

Depending on the use of your horses, if they are on a hay-only diet chances are that they may not be getting all the nutrients they need. The rest of the diet should be designed around the minimal forage requirement. It has one-half the density of whole oats, around one-fourth the density of corn or wheat.

Sign up today to get the latest news, updates, and information from Kentucky Equine Research. Copyright by SmartPak Equine LLC. It is available in fine or course varieties (flaky bran). Therefore, a 1000 pound (450 kilogram) horse needs a minimum of 10 pounds (4.5 kilograms) of hay per day in order to maintain a reasonable balance of the microbial population.



Do you think it is necessary? Although there has not been definitive research performed on the benefit of adding enzymes to the diet, the theory is well founded.

Every day she mixes bran and water and pours it on their feed. At first, it was a stalk that fell off on its own. The laminitis trigger factors that pass into the blood can also induce laminitis.

And she gets this twice a day. Horses may tire of the flavor and go off of an animal fat product before refusing a vegetable oil. On the other hand, low quality alfalfa hay which is composed of more stem than leaf is not a rich source of energy.

Hi Emily, thanks for asking! Just keep in mind they are mostly sodium chloride and dont provide enough other minerals to meet your horses nutritional needs. Animal fat is only about 75% digestible while oil is closer to 95%. Thank you. Beet pulp is about 80% digestible fibers (as compared to 50% for the average hay). Have a great ride! Currently feeding beet pulp. Dr. Lydia Gray. Terms & conditions and the full Text Message Privacy Policy can be found at, You have SmartPaks that will not ship until activated, please go to. Look forresearch proven stabilised rice branwhich is a popular horse feed supplement in many countries. Any stool softening or additional water you see in the feces after feeding bran is more likely diarrhea from a sudden change in the diet. Every day I give my horse half a cup of wheat bran twice a day mixed in with her half cup of LMF-G Super Supplement and half cup of timothy pellets w/rice bran. This results in emaciation with poor muscle definition and protruding bones.

Thanks!! At present, it does not bother him, it does not bleed and he allows me to touch the ear. Bran is made from the fibrous coating on wheat grain. The second obstacle is digestibility. Dr. Lydia Gray. Dr. Lydia Gray.

When comparing the energy content of alfalfa (lucerne) and grass hays, alfalfa hay can provide a horse with more energy than grass hay of similar quality. With this condition, prescription medication might be appropriate, so working closely with those two professionals is the best way to go. In fact, rice bran DOES have the same calcium to phosphorus imbalance as wheat bran so if you are feeding it, make sure it has been fortified (with extra calcium). Probiotics are also thought to help improve fiber digestibility. Increasing the caloric intake of a horse is not problematic if careful attention is paid to the feedstuffs offered to the horse. Rice bran or beet pulp. No codes, no exclusions. A third obstacle involves the long term maintenance of horses on animal fat. The beneficial bacteria that live in the horses GI system need time to adapt to any new feeds. Their weight is good, and their coats are gleaming. A tense horse may spend more time stall walking or weaving while the calm horse conserves energy stores. Hi Marilyn, thanks for your excellent question! Fortunately, the mash you describe doesnt contain wheat bran, which is the culprit here, so have no worries about feeding a wet mix of beet pulp, grass pellets, senior feed, and chopped alfalfa. It sounds like you and your veterinarian have worked out an excellent arrangement to get necessary medication into your horse.

Such environments denature the enzymes thereby making them inactive.

Almost all performance horses have some type of fat added to their diet, whether it is a slug of corn oil, a scoop ofrice bran, a handful of linseed or a commercial high fat feed. Many horses may not be getting what your feed bag recommends, https://www.smartpakequine.com/content/2waytextTC, http://blog.smartpakequine.com/2011/12/navicular-heel-pain-giving-you-a-headache/, Get free access to SmartPak's SmartBarn Services, SmartPak Barn Field Trip, Part 2: Decoding hay and grain for horses, Questions? What else can I do? He is getting grain just like the other horses, so what could be wrong? Hes still getting his daily grain (the mashes are at off times) but a bit less because of the added mash. When good quality forage is unavailable or if hay intake is minimal or difficult for a horse, the diet of the horse can be supplemented with alfalfa pellets or cubes. He wears a fly mask when outdoors. There is no evidence that feeding bran mash helps to clear fecal sand, so if that is part of the goal, youll be better off looking into a psyllium-based product that is fed one week out of the month (called a purge).

Some horses can maintain their weight on fiber sources alone. Msg&data rates may apply. Soy hulls are a by-product of soybean production. Plus, research shows that changes in hay increase a horses risk of colic by 10 times while a change in grain raise the odds by a factor of 5, and thats enough evidence for me to just toss extra hay for more warmth when the polar vortex strikes. After reading this article, I question the practice. Adding extra hay during colder months like youre doing is the first and best option whenever possible. Ive been adding about 1/2 a cup to 3/4 of a cup of bran to this to make it a little more interesting and just to change up the taste a little bit. The metabolic rate determines whether a horse is an easy or hard keeper, and the variation between horses can be extreme.

Corn oil typically has remained the star in palatability studies, but most oils are palatable when corn oil is not offered as a choice in these studies. Temperament often goes hand in hand with metabolic rate. Hi Karen, your mare is lucky to have you as a care-giver! Therefore, as lignin content of a feed increases, digestibility decreases. However, research has shown that even when as much as 50% of the diet consists of bran there is still no laxative effect.

Suddenly changing the diet to feed a bran mash to a sick horse can do more harm then good. But reading about the downside of the nutrition value Im concerned that I should just stop feeding it all together?

Wed recommend checking in with your veterinarian, an equine nutritionist or a resource like FeedXL.com to see if the amount youre feeding is of concern.

He really loves it and it seems to be keeping him in great condition. Also, you might find the additional blogs below helpful.

Ask questions, manage your account, and place orders by texting 26756 from your mobile phone. Maximizing forage quality should be the first adjustment when trying to achieve weight gain.

As much as we love to prepare a warm, tasty bran mash with our horses favorite ingredients, this traditional treat may be doing more harm than good. Salt should always be available, and Im more of a loose-salt fan than traditional salt block fan because I think horses are more likely to get what they need when they dont have to lick a rough substance. Where i board my horse, its a handicapped program and they use my horse for the kids its awesome, they give wheat bran mixed with some water so it helps for sand or colic only in morning with feed does that hurt the horses?

Other times, the diet may need to be higher in calories because of a medical, psychological or environmental problem.

There are no significant laxative effects when fed in small amounts (up to 1 ltr per 1000 kg in body weight). SmartPak Equine is the premier online provider of horse supplies and equine supplements. This will be the longest drive we have taken with him. It will be around a 6 hour drive.

Right now she gets unlimited hay and my winter grass 3 quarts soaked beet pulp and 3 quarts of equistages. Turns out bran mashes upset the nutritional balance of the diet and may not even prevent or treat the problems were giving it for in the first place.

While adding a delicious treat like this can make you feel like a Super Caregiver, really all your horse needs on colder days is more hay. A nervous horse may require more calories than a calm tempered one to maintain the same body condition. For instance, there is little lignin in the soft leaves of the alfalfa plant (lucerne), but a much higher content of lignin is present in the rigid stem. If the corn or barley is treated with heat, it changes the nature of the starch molecule and makes it more easily digested by amylase. We do have him on quintessences and ultra shield and he also takes Previcox as well. All in good health. Seems like a few clarifications could be made to your article to keep from worrying people. Commonly used in commercial horse feeds, soy hulls are slightly lower in digestibility than beet pulp. The calorie level of wheat bran is equal to oats but where oats have a starch level of around 40% wheat bran comes in at less than half that. From there, the sugars in the blood are distributed to where they may be needed by the body for energy or they may be stored as muscle glycogen or adipose tissue for future use. Dr. Lydia Gray. It might have consumed a high ratio of calcium to phosphorus.

Let me explain. It helps horse owners evaluate their horses entire diet as a whole.

I can not do three feedings a day right now and I have tried senior feed and weight supplements. Ive had her wormed an a fecal done, teeth were done and she was treated for any ulcers which she has none.

Thus, alfalfa pellets and cubes provide energy to the horse. I saw that she is lacking a bit of the stomach digestive fluid and the intestines were showing food was passing but going through slower than normal. A veterinarian has thoroughly examined the horse and nothing appears to be wrong.

Averages over 17% protein so if you need to boost protein in the diet again in can be a useful addition. I want to be prepared to give my horse the best treatment available with the highest possible chance of curing the sarcoid. She is a USDF L Program Graduate and is currently working on her Bronze Medal. Each nutrient is utilized for energy in a slightly different way in the body which, depending on the horse, can be advantageous or not.

I have researched this extensively.

The complex carbohydrates in hay make it all the way back to the cecum and colon where microorganisms ferment this long-stem forage, creating heat (warmth) as well as calories. Started a week ago and am supposed to continue a month. A slow metabolism can function on little input of fuel energy. Dr. Lydia Gray. I wish you luck! Metabolism is the speed at which the body burns fuels for energy in order to maintain normal body functions. Thats great! Loose, runny feces are a sign that improper fat digestion is occurring.

Lydia Gray.

This article scares me. She is a 4 year old filly off the track. Soy hulls are the skin of the bean (not the husk or pod) that is knocked off before oil is extracted from the bean. For example, Thoroughbreds usually eat more per pound of body weight than draft horses. Ive been giving my horse beet pulp for going on 6 months now cause no matter what I have done she will not gain weight and this seems to help her.

Sometimes, getting a thin horse to gain weight is simply a matter of increasing the caloric density of the diet. When a horse does not have enough calories or protein in the diet, the body will break down its own muscle tissue and deplete much of the adipose tissue or fat. Also, commercial products are available that combine yeast and a probiotic for maximal regeneration and efficiency of the microbial population. And colic is not a problem here. These volatile fatty acids pass into the bloodstream of the horse where they can be transported to sites which need energy or tucked away as energy stores in the form of adipose tissue or muscle glycogen. No need to be scared, especially when youve already been through a difficult situation with your horse!

If youre feeding a bran mash to bond with your horse, there are lots of other things you can do to remind him youre his friend such as extra grooming, carrot stretches or clicker training.

At this point, I think an important next step is to have an in-depth conversation with your veterinarian to try and determine why your horse has continued to struggle to put on weight despite your excellent efforts. I never do the mega dose of wheat bran.

Wheat bran is commonly thought of as a fiber source, but it actually has about the same amount of fiber as oats.

Grains are an excellent source of starch for the horse, but they can be hazardous to the digestive tract. Should I stop the beet pulp? Lignin is the carbohydrate which gives the most structural support to a plant; rigid-stalked vegetation will contain more lignin than limp-stalked plants. How much hay and grain does your horse get every day?

Added dietary fat has proven to be an invaluable tool for packing weight on a hard keeper. Sign up for free now! So at a minimum, consider adding a multi-vitamin/mineral supplement to their diet that is balanced for their unique age and workloads.

So to make your horse feel warm from the inside outand not risk disturbing his delicate GI balance by suddenly introducing a new feedstuffjust toss him an extra flake or two of his regular hay and hell thank you! When the diet has excessive calories, the body will build muscle and adipose stores. Just wanna make sure what Im giving her is perfectly safe.

There are major differences between vegetable fats (oils) and animal fats. You must be 18 years or older, and a legal resident of the United States to enter. I just received this was wonder what I should feed or give her is the bran mash ok.. The primary disadvantage of feeding animal fats is palatability; oils are much more appealing to the horse, although many commercial animal fats have flavorings added to improve the taste. I for one feed rice bran year round because my mare cannot digest grain and she has diarrhea on grain. I have been feeding mash to my trail horses in the winter months, starting with small amounts gradually increase to 3/4 coffee can with water and their reg feed amount once a day, usually in evening feeding,,,,I have never had any problems, actually no health issues ever, and wherever we go people comment on how healthy our horses look.they go in and out of barn whenever they want free access to pasture, hay in am & pm,,,I fed beetpulp to a mate I had once and she almost choked to death,,,water hose down the thoart saved her,,,never beet pulp again, Im just saying this is what works for me,,,my grandfather said once to me, keep your horses as natural as possible,,,good luck to u all and your equine buddies. Enzymes are proteins which are sensitive to acidic environments. So to avoid disturbing your horses delicate microbial GI balance by suddenly introducing a new feedstuff, continue offering extra hay when the temperature drops and give beet pulp every single day during the winter months, not just occasionally.

What should be done, if anything, for this sarcoid? The starch in the grain is fermented by bacteria. Also free choice grass hay. Some horses are metabolically inclined to be hard keepers while others have medical, psychological or environmental reasons for having difficulty in maintaining weight.

Fiber is the major component of grass and hay. Weight gain in the horse can be attributed to protein or fat deposition. Legal | Security & Privacy Policy, Contact our experts 24/7: Call 1-800-461-8898. I have a friend with 2 miniature horses.

It is called this because flour milling companies would over feed bran. Residing in the intestinal tract of the horse (cecum and colon) are billions of microbes which break down the fiber into a physiologically usable form, volatile fatty acids. Dr. Gray continues to provide health and nutrition information to horse owners through her position at SmartPak, through publication in more than a dozen general and trade publications, and through presentations around the country. Its full of good information, and I think youll find it helpful! To further complicate the situation, not all starch molecules are created equal. As the bacteria die they produce endotoxins and laminitis trigger factors which can cause colic. Ive also included an additional blog article that focuses specifically on this condition: http://blog.smartpakequine.com/2011/12/navicular-heel-pain-giving-you-a-headache/.