The fact that phytate can bind phosphorus, too (it can bind up to
6 phosphate groups), makes me rather concerned about the fact they turned
around and added calcium. That suggests to me that either a) the person
formulating this supplement didn't know about the phytate content of rice
bran, or b) they DID know and saw it as an opportunity to piggyback the
sale of their mineral. Ah, the joys of having been inside the corporate
feed world....sigh.
Someone on the list (may have been you, Judy) told me recently that
Susan and I scared y'all at times--this may be one of those posts. Trust
me, that's not our goal. What we want to do is help you make more informed
decisions. I have worked in the feed industry, for both good and bad companies--I
know that not all the folks out there formulating horse supplements at these
companies are truly knowledgeable about horse nutrition. In some cases,
they also don't know as much about basic ration formulation as they think
they do, either! This is not a good combination, IMO. I'm not as knowledgeable
about the nitty-gritty of horse nutrition as I'd like to be because a lot
has been discovered since I graduated...I learn a tremendous amount from
reading Susan's posts. What I try to do is pass along what I know about
feed characteristics and basic nutrition concepts, and apply it where I
can.
That ends today's lecture on rice bran and marketing ploys in Feeds
and Feeding 101. Stay tuned for Susan's upper level discourse on rice bran
for horses! =)
