Beet pulp

Do you use it to help bring weight up in a growing two year old? I have one who seems to always show ribs & I don't want to pump too much grain into them for fear of future problems. I thought about using beet pulp along with grain to keep weight on for this horse, doesn't look bad but I just hate seeing ribs. Any opinions/input is much appreciated

My boys get two handfulls of soaked Beet Pulp along with a bit of Rice Bran mixed into it after they cool down from their workouts. They love it and it adds on quality weight. They get this in addition to their Omelen 200 w/Pure Platinum Performance and their three servings of Alfalfa/orchard grass mix.

So, they get a flake in the morning, a flake in the afternoon, 2 flakes in the evening (they are slow eaters so it is essentially free choice all night), and a scoop of Omelene 200 w/rice bran in the evening at about 5 p.m. Workout commences at around 7 p.m. and by 8 p.m. they get their beet pulp and what was left of their two evening flakes. If I start to notice that they are not putting on quality weight, I will cancel the Beet Pulp and increase the work out intensity in order to correct the issue. Therefore, the only constant is the hay and evening grain. Everything else is "as needed".

Of course you need to feed in line with the amount of work or vice versa. More work= more groceries. In the absense of hard work I don't recommend that you just throw groceries at him just so he can gain weight. He will indeed gain weight but it won't be the kind that improves him.

Thanks Del. Right now we're just starting to lunge him so he's not getting a heavy workout because I don't want him to keep dropping weight. He's getting a scoop of strategy in the am & another in the evening & two flakes of hay at night, he doesn't want the hay in the am because his field has grass so he leaves the hay for that. Should I up his grain slightly?

I would up his workout level and hay. Muscle and weight is the result of hard work not feeding. Make that rascal sweat:)

doesn't hay cause that hay belly? If I can get him to a show this year I don't want him to have one

WORK him. How are you going to show him without turing up the heat? Keep him on alfalfa (no belly) and get him worked.

My girl has the same issue. As Del suggested to you, I kicked up her workout intensity and feed more hay. I was also not feeding enough grain, so with the vet's permission, I gradually increased her ration of Blue Seal Hunter feed to 1 quart in the a.m. and 1 quart in the p.m. Rana also gets 2 flakes of 1st cutting and 1 flake of the 2nd cutting in the am and grass all day. In the afternoon she gets a workout and in the p.m. she gets the same amount of hay. She doesnt have a hay belly because of how I work her.(Lots of trotting, cantering, and controlled hand-galloping.) I hope everything works out.

Hay belly is due to a large cecum. Keep that stuff moving through (with work) and no hay belly!

My Cisco horse eats (divided into 3 meals):
7 lb Ultium
2 lbs soaked beet pulp
1 lb dehydrated and chopped alfalfa
2 oz distillers grains (DDGS)
Patinum performance
Ortho Chon II
2 cups corn oil
Free choice prairie hay and pasture

That is Way down from what he *used* to eat!!!!

Shahnara wrote:

Do you use it to help bring weight up in a growing two year old? I have one who seems to always show ribs & I don't want to pump too much grain into them for fear of future problems. I thought about using beet pulp along with grain to keep weight on for this horse, doesn't look bad but I just hate seeing ribs. Any opinions/input is much appreciated

Also, if you haven't done so already, you might consider doing a Panacur PowerPac or it's equivalent, Safeguard, for five consecutive days at double the dose for his size. I'm sure you already have him on a good worming program, but conventional wormers such as ivermectin do not get the encysted stage of strongyles, and if he has a population of encysted strongyles in the gut, he's not going to absorb his feed as well. Plus, you run the risk of having a colic when they periodically break out and migrate through the intestinal tissue. That happened to a friend of mine, and she lost her gelding. Very sad, and so easy to prevent.

I have the dentist coming out in May to float everyone's teeth, I noticed this morning he's dropping grain when he's eating so that could be part of his problem. Since I'm on a TB farm I have access to the training "wheel" they use so I'm thinking of putting him on that for 20 minutes a day when I've got him to that point. How do you guys handle the mouthy two year old phase in colts? He's grabbing everything, leadline, halter when you put it on him & once or twice he's gone for my clothes but he instantly gets that ACK! when he does that.
I know it's normal for the boys to have this stage but how do you break them of it? a person I know said "smack him in the mouth everytime he does it" No way! I'm not hitting my horse

Would you spank a child? My answer is yes, if their behavior deserves it. There is a difference between spanking and beating. I would never beat my kids, but back in the day they got a couple of spankings. They turned out great. Same with horses....They MUST be disciplined when they behave badly. Biting is unacceptable and Premo certainly gets a smack in the mouth when he deserves it. The discipline MUST be timely so that they can connect the smack with the behavior. They are herd animals and I assure you that their goal is to make you subordinate to them. If you don't illustrate your ALPHA position things will get harder, and harder for you. Give him a smack when he does it...I assure you that you are not capable of hurting him. Watch a herd scene.....they go through vastly tougher discipline than we can dish out. Any smack you give him would pale in comparision to what his dam would do to him in the herd.

I can't bite Psymin fast enough He needs a good chomp now and then on his rump. Turning 3 however, he seems to be doing a lot better. Trust me, he completely was a monster with the "everything in my mouth" deal.

I agree with Del! If you ever sit and watch a group of horses together, when somebody steps out of line, the reaction is hard and fast! You'll see hair fly sometimes and there will be marks. So you're smacking him on the mouth when he grabs is sure not going to hurt him. Stallions are dominant animals and will work to assert that dominance any way they can. And if you don't establish that you are the boss from the get go, you will have problems like we are having with my daughter's stallion. The biting and grabbing things will only get worse if you don't take steps to enforce that it's not acceptable. Believe me, I'd rather smack them than wear the bruises we've worn since Mo came to live in our barn!! He's fast and he's accurate. If the breeders had taken the time to stop the behavior when he was younger, we'd have a better behaved stallion right now.

My own stallion, in my avatar, learned from the time he first tried to nip at his youngest age, that would result in a smack and an ACKKK. It hasn't hurt him in the least and he does not even attempt to bite now that he's older. He's 11 and has never bit or grabbed anything near his mouth like halters, leadropes, clothes, etc. I truly know that it was because we established very early what was acceptable behavior and what was not. Biting and grabbing are not.

See, I agree with that totally. My stallion is 11, and because no one has ever taught him not to bite, he is dangerous now. He has bitten so hard he has nearly broken my fingers. He also has never been taught to not be a jerk period and has so many issues now, that we are debating on gelding him; he is an own son of AA Apollo Bey. He is dangerous! It is a shame too, because he is GORGEOUS. Had he been taught from the get go not to bite and behave himself, he would not have to be learning now, the hard way what "NO!" means. If he had been with us as a colt, he would have learned in a more gentler way of not biting and minding his manners. It would have been easier. Trust me, training your young guy now to mind hid his "Ps" and "Q's" is easier now, then when he is older. Wait till' he is full grown and grabs a hold of your clothes, or a finger.

Thanks for the advice & input everyone, I gave him a smack on the mouth when he tried it tonight & he looked at me as if to say whoa...what the heck? I remember way back someone telling me don't hit them in the mouth or the face because then they think it's a game when you do it & don't connect the action with the behavior. Was told a stallion who gets smacked like that will eventually come back at you HARD if you hit them. Other then the mouthy two year old thing, he is perfect & everything I ever wanted in a boy

Heck, his mother would either kick him or bite him back if he did it. Just make sure that your discipline is timely. If you don't address it immediatley, it serves no purposes because, as you say, they don't make the connection between behavior and consequence. You might try grabbing and twisting the lip as well.

HAHAHA! I like the lip twist!! Never thought of that one. I know I've twisted shoulders when they've been super bad. A quick twist and they will pay attention RIGHT NOW! Too bad we aren't as fast as Mo with that sort of thing. He's faster than we are with the come back after he nabs ya!! I'd love to see his face if we could accomplish that one!LOLOL Give us ideas, huh Gen???

Mary S.

So for those in AZ, where do you get your beet pulp (shredded) and how much are you paying for a bag?

Mary S.