beet pulp

[Gardner Family <slsf@foothill.net>]

Susan

A lot of people are feeding beet pulp and seem to like it.  Here is my
experience.  I tried it two years ago, the horses seemed to like it and
did well.  Then we had two horses impact on rides.  One was Gort, the
horse Sue rode on the Tevis this year.  I pulled him at Foresthill
because he hadn't passed anything since before Last Chance.  He would
have passed the vet check, but I know things weren't right.  I took him
to Auburn, couldn't find a vet to look at him.  After being there a
couple hours he started passing a few dry pellets and then got things
moving agin.  Another horse that Sue rode on a 50 was put on beet pulp
because ours did well on it.  He impacted after the ride and required
several days treatment at Davis to save him.  Both horses drank well
during the ride and were not dehydrated.

Both horses were expereinced endurances that had never had this problem
before or since.  We soaked the pulp before feeding it.  We have not fed
it since and have had no problems since.  I can't say for sure that the
beet pulp was the problem, but I am supacious enough not to feed it
again. 

I have tried out a lot of different diets for my endurance horses over
the past 30 years.  I have found that horses can do well on almost
anything.  However, there is one combination that seems to really work
for my horses.  It is Rye hay and TDI 16 (formaly known as Tiz Whiz) for
grain.  It is definately worth the effort to get away from alfalfa if at
all possible.

Phil Gardner