psyllium for sand

[Susan Evans Garlinghouse <suendavid@worldnet.att.net>]

> I have a question, Tracy Stampke says she heard somewhere and she thinks it
> was talking to you but she isn't sure, that psyllium is a farce and really
> dosen't do what they say it does for sand.  She was thinking that it was a
> topic of discussion at the Western Region Conference.  Do you know anything
> about this?  Is psyllium a waste of money or what?

In my opinion, it is.  The idea is that it somehow "binds" the sand, but
they don't explain how a small amount of psyllium goo floating on the
liquid in the hindgut is going to find and then selectively bind ONLY
the sand that has precipitated down to the bottom of the intestinal
loops.  Also, you have to feed huge amounts to get any real effect. 
After all, the capacity of the equine digestive system is close to 50
gallons---how much change can a cup of ANYTHING (short of nuclear waste)
make in that much volume?  And besides, the research simply does not
support the claims, and there HAVE been empirical trials on the efficacy
of psyllium.

It is true that fiber will help move sand from the gut---but think about
it.  What's going to have more effect, one or two cups of psyllium goo
once a month, or the fifteen to twenty pounds of hay (which is obviously
very high in fiber) that you feed every day?

I tell people (which are the same suggestions that Tracy heard from Dr.
Bray at the West Region Conference) that the best strategies to
reduce/minimize sand is sufficient forage in the ration, good access to
good water (meaning not just any water, but nice, clean, fresh water to
encourage maximal drinking---including maybe warming the water in winter
and providing cool water in summer), regular exercise and management to
minimize sand intake in the first place---like feeding on rubber mats
instead of on the dirt.  I know of one person that bolted big truck
tires to rubber mats for use as feeders and their sand content in the
poop plummeted (without psyllium).  They told me the $100 it cost for
the mats paid for itself in saved psyllium costs in about three months.

Hope this answers your question (and also hope you don't mind if I post
this to the list, there are usually other people that have the same
question.)

Seeya,

Susan Garlinghouse