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>Date: Mon, 17 Dec 2001 08:15:52 -0800 (PST)
Susan,
Do you think beet pulp is better than using psyllium in all cases? (My riding instructor does but she also thinks I should feed plain whole oats + beet pulp.) I live in sandy So Fla so I've been using a brand of psyllium that has some beet pulp & some bran in it, it's used 2X per week instead of the one week a month ritual. I used to feed beet pulp as well, but quit since the brand of feed I use also has beet pulp in it & figured I was overdoing it.
Also, have you any information on a relationship between barley & laminitis? I read that some say there may be a link... also how about MSM & glucosamine for laminitis? That doesn't make sense to me but have read it more than once. Here's my story:
I bought a 10 yr old Arab/Saddlebred former show horse in May that had been brood mare/pasture potato for over 2 years. She was unshod & I did not shoe her immediately (big mistake) as I knew we would be taking it pretty slow for a month or so. Her former owner fed 6 lbs of 12% pellets/day + rolled coastal hay. Over the first month I switched her to straight timothy & a barley based, low carb - low energy feed, 11% protein, but she seemed to need a lot more than my other Arabs. If I dropped her below about 5 lbs/day she seemed to get ribby... I figured that was the saddlebred side. I rode her 2 or 3 times/wk on hard packed sometimes rocky dirt roads, mostly walking & a little light trotting.
Long story... She wound up with laminitis, no rotation, a few days before she was scheduled for shoes. Her recovery went perfectly... a couple DMSO drips, some pain meds & isoxuprine, & 6 wks stall rest, then cushion pads under her shoes - she just got those off & seems fine. When I started her back on concentrates, (it's been a couple months now) I switched to an oat based low carb - low energy feed recommended for foundered horses - she had stayed plump on all-she-wanted timothy during her recovery so now she's only getting a little less than 2 lbs of pellets & a good 20 lbs of hay/day (mostly timothy + some coastal 'cuz she loves it). I guess I'm overly worried because I can't really identify what the cause was so don't know how to prevent it from reoccurring. Plus, my other mare does so much better on the barley feed but can't justify 2 different feeds for only 2 horses - down here the bags would go bad before they got used up!
I have considered switching to whole oats/beet pulp but I think right now it's more imprtant to leave things alone - too many changes already this year for this mare, & the all-natural feed I'm using is basically just that - oats/beet pulp with some probiotics & vitamins thrown in.
We are starting to condition for a ride in Feb... Just looking for any & all thoughts & comments. Thanks!
Bany in So Fla
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