Beet pulp causing impactions?

[QHEventer]

I had a disagreement with the owner of my feed store the other day regarding beet pulp causing impactions.

I have a senior horse (who I posted about a couple weeks ago) who had an impaction shortly after switching him to TC Senior Gold, which appears to have a LOT of beet pulp. I soak it in 1.5 gallons of warm water, but he still seems to be having issues with it. My younger mare has had two mild gas colics since switching her to this feed as well. In another instance, a friend’s horse had colic surgery and the vet removed a basketball sized mass of beet pulp, despite it being well-soaked.

This morning there was only one pile in my old guys stall, so I fear we’re heading down that road again. When I told the owner of the feed store I wanted to switch grain to something else, she argued that beet pulp prevents impaction by pulling water into the gut.

I guess I’m just wondering if my suspicion could be accurate and if so, if there is another high-calorie senior feed that would be digested more easily for my old guy? I have access to TC and Buckeye feeds.

Thanks!

[Calvincrowe]

Perhaps discuss this with your vet instead of a feed store owner? I feed soaked beet pulp-- not soupy just fully rehydrated and wet-- topped with low-carb/low-nsc complete pelleted feed. Have done so for years with no issues. I supposed feeding dry BP could lead to issues in the gut if a horse is not drinking well or consumes a great deal of it.

How much of this are you feeding? How is your horse’s water intake? Do you need to feed a complete senior feed? There are many issues that go into a colic- what kind of hay are you feeding?

[Bogie]

Definitely you need to discuss this with your vet. I fed Triple Crown Senior (not the gold) to my TB for the past 12 years, sometimes soaked, sometimes dry with no issue. He was chowing down on 6 quarts/day. My draft x mare gets 4 quarts (measured dry) of soaked beet pulp/day topped with a vitamin/mineral supplement, a probiotic, and a bit of Senior to add flavor. I started her on this regime after she was diagnosed with ulcers.

It sounds like something is wrong but as @Calvincrowe mentioned, there are many things that can cause colic.

My understanding is that even feeding beet pulp dry will not cause colic but it is dangerous for horse prone to choke.

[endlessclimb]

My new vet swears that beet pulp, soaked or other wise, causes choke.

I have fed beet pulp for years, soaked into oblivion always… and have never had a problem with choke. I will continue to feed it the way I always have.

[trubandloki]

@QHEventer

I had a disagreement with the owner of my feed store the other day regarding beet pulp causing impactions.

I have a senior horse (who I posted about a couple weeks ago) who had an impaction shortly after switching him to TC Senior Gold, which appears to have a LOT of beet pulp. I soak it in 1.5 gallons of warm water, but he still seems to be having issues with it. My younger mare has had two mild gas colics since switching her to this feed as well. In another instance, a friend’s horse had colic surgery and the vet removed a basketball sized mass of beet pulp, despite it being well-soaked.

This morning there was only one pile in my old guys stall, so I fear we’re heading down that road again. When I told the owner of the feed store I wanted to switch grain to something else, she argued that beet pulp prevents impaction by pulling water into the gut.

I guess I’m just wondering if my suspicion could be accurate and if so, if there is another high-calorie senior feed that would be digested more easily for my old guy? I have access to TC and Buckeye feeds.

Thanks!

Anything can cause a problem in the right horse.

It sounds like you are taking some individual situations and putting them together to make a blanket statement.

I have known lots of horses who have lived for lots of years on lots of beet pulp.

That does not mean your horse will do fine on beet pulp. Maybe your horse has something going on that they are not doing well on this feed/beet pulp and it is worth trying to find a different feed for your animals.

[SLW]

A talk with your veterinarian would be ideal and I can see why your observation of your senior horses stall has you concerned. It could be as simple as he needs more turnout to move around or he needs blood drawn to confirm all is well.

FWIW, I feed TC Ration Balancer Gold with a hydrated serving of molasses free beet pulp year round to my easy keeper equines. No colics.

[QHEventer]

I mentioned this to my vet when she was treating the initial impaction, and her response was along the lines of “could be the beet pulp, could be something else”. At this point, I think it’s worth trying something else though.

He’s a pretty good drinker overall, and he’s normally out 24/7, he was only in last night because we had severe storms overnight.

He get 5 pounds of Senior twice a day, which I also discussed breaking down into three smaller meals with my vet. He has been on a great quality brome hay for years and has no issues with that.

[JB]

@QHEventer

I have a senior horse (who I posted about a couple weeks ago) who had an impaction shortly after switching him to TC Senior Gold, which appears to have a LOT of beet pulp. I soak it in 1.5 gallons of warm water, but he still seems to be having issues with it.

what was he eating before TC SG? What “issues” is he having with it? How many pounds are you using with that 1.5g water? How is his drinking?

@QHEventer

My younger mare has had two mild gas colics since switching her to this feed as well.

The additional gastric support ingredients, using (more) vegetable oil and less molasses, may be something she is still adapting to. Or, maybe those things just aren’t agreeing with her.

@QHEventer

In another instance, a friend’s horse had colic surgery and the vet removed a basketball sized mass of beet pulp, despite it being well-soaked.

Lack of hydration causes impactions, not feedstuffs. One exception I know of is feeding too much psyllium on a regular basis. But psyllium isn’t like anything in regular normal feeds

At whatever point the impaction started, feed will back up behind it. People have blamed BOSS for an impaction, simply because that was the last thing down the pike and therefore the most obvious thing in the mass.

@QHEventer

When I told the owner of the feed store I wanted to switch grain to something else, she argued that beet pulp prevents impaction by pulling water into the gut.

Hay pulls water into the gut. Feed pulls water into the gut. Digestion requires water be pulled from the body into the gut, to help the digestive process and help keep things soft/lubed enough to keep moving.

Soaking things means less body water has to get pulled in. But a horse who doesn’t drink well is subject to impactions at any time

@endlessclimb

My new vet swears that beet pulp, soaked or other wise, causes choke.

I wish I understood why anyone, let alone vets think this. ANYthing can cause choke. Horses have choked on grass. But the drier something is, or the more poorly-soaked it is (ie maybe it look nice and juicy when you feed it by halfway into eating it, it’s turned into a clay-like mess), the more likely to cause choke. And, that’s compounded by a poor eating habits.

[blob99]

I just wanted to add that my barn was feeding Triple Crown Sr. Gold and a few months ago many horses at our barn had problems–3 that had never choked before choked and 1 colicked. We had recently switched from TCS to TCS Gold and so the owners talked to the feed store about it, who put us in touch with the rep. Long story short, the rep told us there was a batch of a TCS Gold that had come out drier than it was supposed to and they had many reported problems. They were taking those bags back with refund.

So it’s possible that you got some of those bags…

[LovieBird]

What about worms? I read that some worms can cause impactions.

[QHEventer]

Just had a negative fecal last month.

@blob99 That’s good to know, thank for you sharing.

@JB He was in the regular TC Senior for years prior and I switched him to the Gold in Jan/Feb.

I think I’m just going to go back to the regular Senior since it agreed with both of my horses.

Thanks for the input everyone!

[JB]

@LovieBird

What about worms? I read that some worms can cause impactions.

Tapeworms love to hang out in the ileal-cecal junction and yes, can cause a subsequent impaction.

@QHEventer

Just had a negative fecal last month.

Unless you have a major tapeworm infection, and get lucky you’re not going to see tapeworms (or pinworms, or bots, or neck threadworms). This is why FEC-based deworming is not just “don’t deworm if things are low/clean”. You still need to take those guys into account

@QHEventer

He was in the regular TC Senior for years prior and I switched him to the Gold in Jan/Feb.

I think I’m just going to go back to the regular Senior since it agreed with both of my horses.

Very reasonable You can’t predict which horses won’t like a given feed, or for whom that feed disagrees with them, no matter how nice it is on paper, no matter how well it works for 1000s and 1000s of other horses

[anon68314200]

Last year Had a 24/7 field kept horse choke on the large handful of grass ration balancer he get 1x/day. Bloody animals. Can potentially choke on anything.

I feed my personal horse a large bucket of wet beet pulp, oil and oats daily (in addition to high fat Buckeye dry feed.) He is hard to keep weight on and the beet pulp is a big help with his ration.

[CLB15]

I don’t feed TC Senior Gold so take this with a grain of salt, but I was looking up calorie dense feeds a while back & think TC Sr. Gold was a pretty dense feed- like 1 lb/quart? I understand it’s more than just Beet Pulp so wont expand at the same rate, but if feeding 5lbs (estimating 5qtz) per feeding, 1.5 gallons of water on it may not be enough. For a while I’d been feeding one of my hard keepers BP with additional concentrates and for 2-3qtz of BP I would almost fill a 5 gallon bucket with water.

[QHEventer]

This is good to know, thank you! I think I will start feeding him 3 smaller meals a day and will start adding more water. Can’t hurt!

[JB]

@CLB15

I don’t feed TC Senior Gold so take this with a grain of salt, but I was looking up calorie dense feeds a while back & think TC Sr. Gold was a pretty dense feed- like 1 lb/quart?

both regular and gold sr are 1.01lb/qt. However, Sr Gold is 1800 cal/lb and regular Sr is 1540(ish)

What you looked up was feed density itself

[walktrot]

Our rookie BO joined us after my 28 y.o. gelding had shots and his teeth were floated. The dentist is coming in the spring and fall now due to my horse’s advancing age. He started with us around 2010. Choke and impaction colic are what I worry about most. He said there are some brands of grain that have a kernel in the center that doesn’t absorb water even if you soak it for 24 hours. Another person said some of them have something sprayed on the outside which might contribute to the problem. Something to keep in mind.

[JB]

@walktrot

He said there are some brands of grain that have a kernel in the center that doesn’t absorb water even if you soak it for 24 hours.

he who - BO? Barley is a grain that is too hard, and needs to be steamed or crimped or rolled (or cooked) before feeding to horses, maybe that’s what he meant?

@walktrot

Another person said some of them have something sprayed on the outside which might contribute to the problem.

huh?

[walktrot]

@JB

he who - BO? Barley is a grain that is too hard, and needs to be steamed or crimped or rolled (or cooked) before feeding to horses, maybe that’s what he meant?

That’s it. We have an amazing and well-respected dentist. I was talking to someone I’ve known for years about the kernels. Her comment was that some have a coating sprayed on the outside. Who knows what the coating is. Something sweet, protective? It could slow down the soaking process.

I’m an ancient owner with a not-quite ancient horse (math: me 74, horse 28). We live at a beautiful barn where he has the prime real estate. Most barn staff and boarders are some degree of young and their horses are easy keepers. Several people are working off part of their board feeding up and picking stalls. They load up hay nets and toss a little grain in with supplements.

I’m paying a lot more attention to some of these topics. It has been frustrating on occasion because a few people fail to understand that as your horse gets older some things deteriorate - especially teeth and joints. You make adjustments. One person can’t bring herself to add plenty of water to make soupy grain. The hay is a gorgeous grass mix from Canada. He is not an easy keeper or a hard keeper. He eats enough hay in one day to maintain his normal body weight. He should be on free choice. He loses weight when he stands around with nothing to eat. Everyone now knows to pull bales that are mostly fluffy not chewy. Except the one who can’t add more water to grain.

I have to be careful what I say. We have a rookie BO. Am I complaining or trying to provide some information? We are at the only barn in southern Maine that has what he needs. We retired after 21 years of riding which is where the social interactions develop. He retired as alpha gelding before we moved. We are below the bottom of the herd. I think I’ve been tagged as unable to ride my cow pony and don’t know anything about taking care of horses. I don’t want to move.

[Spud_amp_Saf]

I pulled my senior off beet pulp after an impaction and a couple of gas colics this winter. It was the shredded variety and well soaked, but I just found it was making her a bit too gassy, so I switched her to roughage soaked to soup texture instead, and have found this to be much kinder on her gut.