Re: RC: Re: Rice Bran

["Carolyn Burgess" <carolyn_burgess@hotmail.com>]

I have used rice bran and beet pulp with good success.  I also have used 
another product called Athlete, made by Purina, which I liked alot. I've 
also added both oil and a version of weight builder for the most difficult 
keeper.  I started with a version of weight builder by Select, and it does 
put fat on a horse.  The problem I had with it was that it was expensive and 
made from animal products.  I felt uncomfortable feeding animal products to 
a herbivore.  The most disgusting side effect was that her waste STUNK!  If 
you've ever had a kid with hamsters, gerbils or guinea pigs, you'll be able 
to imagine the smell.  Her stall smelled like a huge hamster cage, YUK! My 
finicky mare would not eat any kind of oil so I had read about rice bran and 
tried it.  For me, it served two purposes: it added additional calories and 
fat, and gave me a vehicle to get additional water into this mare (oh, in 
addition to being a picky eater, she wouldn't drink water either).  The most 
I ever added to her food was a coffee can of bran (about 1 lb) once per day 
in dinner.  I also added about a 1/2 gallon of warm water and made a slop 
that she loved.  In addition, to entice her to eat more, I added about a 1/4 
cup of dried molasses, which she loved.  The bran worked, but she still 
needed more help and I didn't want to go more than 1 pound per day, I 
started to add Athlete.  This is an extruded feed which is high in fat and 
easily digestible.  She got a 1/2 lb 2X day.  I also added up to 6 cups of 
soaked beet pulp 2X day. The beet pulp was a recent addition so I can't 
comment on it's effectiveness with her because she was recently diagnosed 
with Cushing's.  She went from being a very hard keeper to getting fat on 
air.  She had another trait which made it even harder in work to keep weight 
on her.  When she was worked, she would lose her appetite and eat even less. 
  Good luck with your horse, hard keepers with make you crazy.


>From: "Susan Garlinghouse" <suendavid@worldnet.att.net>
>Reply-To: "Susan Garlinghouse" <suendavid@worldnet.att.net>
>To: <ridecamp@endurance.net>, <devitaphoto@boone.net>
>Subject: RC:  Re: Rice Bran
>Date: Tue, 17 Apr 2001 10:42:53 -0600
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> > I have a 7 year old arab. We are having a time getting and keeping 
>weight
>on him.  Teeth good, on strongt C and worm free. I am thinking of using 
>rice
>bran. What are some thoughts on this? We are feeding weight builder now.  
>As
>soon as I start to train, his weight will drop. Any help appreciated.
>
>
>
>I'm not a tremendous fan of rice bran, but it does have its uses in
>moderation (ie, a few pounds and not 7 or 10 or 12) and as long as you're
>paying attention to calcium-phosphorus ratios.  Rather than reinventing the
>wheel, you might read this:
>http://www.shady-acres.com/susan/ricebran.shtml
>
>IMO, a pound or so of  rice bran would be preferable to Weight
>Builder---both are just high-fat feeds and rice bran is more economical 
>than
>the Weight Builder.  Or, you could just cut to the chase and add a few
>ounces of fresh vegetable oil.
>
>Adding beet pulp to the ration would also probably help with maintaining
>weight.  There's an article on the same website about that as well.
>
>Good luck,
>Susan G
>
>
>
>
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