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> Would you mind expanding on some of the holes in the article so that I
have some real information to share with the folks on the other list?  I'm
sure ridecampers would be interested also.

Briefly - and this is not comprehensive, because I just scanned the article
once and tossed it in the garbage:
1) The fiber in beet pulp is not even close to "indigestible"---the only
fiber found in forage that *is* totally indigestible is lignin, which is
almost non-existent in beet pulp, but considerably higher (it varies) in the
hay pellets whats-her-name recommends.  And even being indigestible doesn't
necessarily make it bad, just affects GI transit time, etc differently than
fermentable fibers.  The fiber in beet pulp is primarily pectin, a soluble
fiber, which is highly fermentable and digestible. Apparently, no
understanding by the author of how digestive physiology works here. 
2) The whole water weight argument is just total nonsense.  Having a good
reservoir of water in the hindgut is generally considered a good thing in
performance horses and if all that water were just "rushing" through, the
horse would have projectile diarrhea.  Not loose stools. Projectile.  One of
the primary benefits of feeding beet pulp to performance horses is that
there *is* more of a water reservoir in the hindgut.  Doesn't adversely
affect absorption of anything else.  I could go into a long dissertation of
soluble fibers fermenting to primarily butyric acid, which in turn is the
preferred substrate of enterocytes, thus optimizing a higher turnover
(that's a good thing), which then in turn optimizes absorption, water and
electrolyte balance in the hindgut, but that's way too long for this reply.
And none of it is classified material.  Find a qualified nutrition text and
use that as an information source, not this twaddle. 
3) "Does your horse have loose stools" - Most people that feed alfalfa think
that the ideal consistency to horse poop is a tight, dry little road apple.
You don't want diarrhea, but same as for other species, a softer consistency
is not necessarily a symptom of disease.  It's usually a lot better than
overly dry.  Horses on pasture and on grass hays (and also beet pulp) often
have a bit of a splat to their poop, which is highly fine-by-me.
4) Sugar beets don't "store" pesticides in the pulp.  If they did, it
wouldn't be very effective in eliminating bugs on the outside of the plant,
would it?  I've seen the tox assay reports on beet pulp and the results were
pretty much nil. I also ran my own on beets straight from the field and
hosed off in my driveway--also nil.  Also, shredded beet pulp gets tossed
into a water bath and the water with soluble sugars (which is the cash crop
here) is removed and dried to the table sugar end product.  If there were
residues, it's more likely they'd be present in higher concentrations in the
table sugar.  It's not.  When whats-her-name can produce real data, we'll
talk.  Until then, it's apparent she's not even familiar with the
manufacturing process, let alone any inherent shortfalls.  
5) All that gibberish about "does your horse have brittle feet, weak in the
hindquarters, yada yada" makes no logical point or argument.  She makes
claims of horses that had health problems that were being fed beet pulp, she
totally changed their diets, their condition allegedly improved and
therefore it was the beet pulp that caused the initial problem, not anything
else having to do with its ration or management.  Pretty shaky logic.  It's
a lot like saying that there are pigeons in cities, and crime in cities,
therefore pigeons cause urban crime. 

Sorry, there's just no logical thought process here, no science or
scientific background, no qualified views.  But, everyone is entitled to an
opinion, even if those opinions aren't worth the paper they're printed on.

Susan Garlinghouse, DVM (no certifications, just university degrees)


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