Howdy! Beet pulp seems to cause much confusion in the feed whirlwind.
Beet pulp is a forage, not an energy supplement. It has less energy
than most grains, and more energy than some hays. If you substitute
the same amount by weight of beet pulp for grain, you are decreasing
your horse's energy intake, and he will most likely lose weight. Beet
pulp needs to be soaked thoroughly, at least 2-4 hours, and some say
overnight. Buckeye feeds makes a shredded beet pulp that is a bit
safer due to smaller size of the particles, and faster water uptake.
Beet pulp is excellent for old timers who cannot chew hay well.
For the average horse, 5-7 lbs after soaking is fine. I would also
recommend corn oil for any older horses with weight problems. We have
several working school horses at Otterbein that are 25 years or
older, and they get 2 cups of corn oil each day, and do well on it -
shiny, calm, happy.
Beet pulp is also a good alternative to lots of
hay for the horse with heaves, or other respiratory problems. It is
very low on the dust scale. One word of caution....beet pulp is
UNBALANCED for calcium and phosphorous. There is 6 times more
Ca than P. Therefore be careful if you have legume pasture or hay, or
high Ca electrolyte supplements. Hope it helps!...cheers...Lynn
Lynn E. Taylor, MS, PhD
Assistant Professor
Dept. of Equine Science
Otterbein College
Westerville, Oh 43081
ltaylor@otterbein.edu
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Lynn, can you elaborate on this a bit? I had thought Beet pulp
was more balanced than bran, as far as the calcium/phosporus
ratio.
If you were feeding lots of beet pulp, what could you supplement
with to balance it out?
Karen
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