Re: RC: Re: beet pulp and electrolites

[Lucy C Trumbull <elsie@foothill.net>]

> > "First ? is do I have to soak beet pulp?"

Lindak wrote:
> 
> Last year I asked this same question as to whether I had to soak 
> beet pulp. Susan G. highly recommended soaking it...

My greedy mare once got into the beetpulp bag and consumed
about 25 lbs of the stuff, dry. She looked highly contented 
for the rest of the day and didn't move much (mostly because 
she'd just eaten the equivalent of a TG dinner), but was 
absolutely fine from this event (which is more than I would 
have said had she got into the grain).

It was a cheap, free lesson for me on how well horses can
get to food if they try hard enough and after that all food
was kept in lockable bins.

When I feed beetpulp myself (as opposed to them helping 
themselves <g>), I turn it into a slurry - and in the winter, 
a nice hot soupy slurry.

I imagine that feeding wet reduces the likelihood of choke,
plus it's probably more palatable (although my mare didn't 
seem to care).

I think Susan's point is that:

a) beetpulp is good
b) beetpulp is another way to get moisture into your horse
c) beetpulp is a way to get "other stuff" (supplements, e-lytes,
   oil, etc) into your horse

Point b) is probably the most important, seeing as we spend
most of our time at rides fretting and making sure our horses
drink enough. If you've "pre-loaded" with slurrified beetpulp,
as Jim Holland discovered, your horse will be the better for it.

-- 
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Lucy Chaplin Trumbull - elsie@foothill.net
Repotted english person in Garden Valley (Sierra Foothills), CA 
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