Beet Pulp Again!

["guest@endurance.net" <guest@endurance.net>]

Karen Sweaney sweaney@lightspeed.net
I just wanted to share a bit 
about my recent leap onto the 
beet pulp wagon!  I know it may 
seem a bit late to those of you 
who have known about this stuff 
for a while, but as they say, 
“Better late than never!”

My mare, who is on pasture and 
has access to oat hay all day, 
was always on the ribby side and 
couldn’t seem to put weight on.  
I increased her grain to 3 lbs 
a day but was dismayed to find 
that she would walk off and leave 
it unfinished!

As a last resort, I bought a bag 
of beet pulp from the feed store 
and soaked a scoop down for a trial.  
My mare snorted at the soupy mass, 
tentatively took a bite, and then 
walked off in disgust.  I left it 
in the feed pan and was quite happy 
to see that it had disappeared by morning.

When I poured it into the feed pan 
the next day, my mare still blew 
on it and stood as far away from 
it as possible, but she did nibble 
on it.  By day three, she actually 
nickered at me to “hurry it up over there!”

It has been two months and now 
I feed five pounds of the stuff to 
her and she wolfs it down as 
though it might be her last meal.  
She has steadily put on weight 
(she lost less weight and recovered 
much more quickly after Swanton’s 
100 than she has after any other ride) 
and her energy level has increased.

Thank you Susan for your research 
in this area.  I now tell anyone who 
will listen what a great feed 
source this is.

Karen Sweaney