Check with your feedstore -- it is possible to buy psyllium in bulk (still
not cheap, but the only way to go if you have several horses). I have a
friend who clips coupons and watches the ads and stocks up on Metamucil on
sale -- her horses apparently like the orange-flavored version.
If your vet suggested daily feeding, I assume there was a reason -- like
lots of sand in the manure. One doesn't even have to be in the desert to
see a sand colic: my husband was taking care of feeding my one mare and
foal while I was gone on a trip and didn't think about her eating for two,
and so she really scoured the stall floor looking for every last morsel.
When I got back a week later she developed an unusual colic and since she
passed some manure while the vet was there he broke open a ball -- and the
center was obviously sand/grit!
Colics aside, the other thing I worry about with sand is the possibility of
stones. None of the horses I've raised have ever had stones, but two that
I've bought that were raised on sand (mine are on grass or adobe soil) have
had stones -- one horse had to be put down (the stone is on my shelf), and
the other had the stone start to move while I was riding on him and I wound
up underneath a writhing horse (he passed the stone at the trainer's about
the same time I got out of the hospital)! So I'm glad to hear that you are
also getting away from feeding straight alfalfa -- the local vets (Santa
Ynez, CA) I deal with consider the high calcium content in alfalfa,
combined with hard water (and nucleus material like sand), to be major
factors in stone formation. Apparently the Arabians, Peruvians (my breed),
and Morgans are the most susceptable. The vets have recommended feeding a
cup of vinegar a day to help prevent stone formation (my horses love it,
plus it seems to result in a shinier haircoat and makes the manure and the
horses less attractive to flies)
---- Lynn