ah! Ok. I’ll buy some next time I go up to ride! I’ll give that a try for a month or so and see if I can get the hay started a little early. If that doesn’t work, I’ll see about ultium or rice bran.
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If you use hot water, like really hot water out of a kettle, and put the oil in at the same time as the water it will spread out over the beet pulp more evenly and thinly and be more palatable. According to my horse (who used to get beet pulp and oil because 14 years ago there weren’t very many commercial feed options for horses with PSSM - thankfully there are lots of options these days). Mixing in some of his regular feed can make it more palatable too.
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”‹Shreds soak faster than pellets, but they’ll need more storage space.
Good idea! Any suggestions on getting easy hot water in a barn? I have an electric kettle but it only does a liter. No chance for a big permanent heater type of thing.
Be careful with water that’s too hot.
An option for getting hot water is a bucket heater. Plug it in with a full bucket of water as soon as you get to the barn, unplug it as you’re ready to go ride and put it on the beep.
Perfect! I’ve got an extra heater I haven’t been using.
Boiling water takes a long time to cool down. It’s great to use in winter if you are making mashes in the morning to feed at night, less chance of freezing. But if you are planning to feed in a couple hours it can really stay hot. Of course you could put a litre of boiling water in, let it start to soak, and then top up with cold water.
Don’t make things so hard. Get a plastic bucket the size you need to soak the beet pulp. Before you come home from the barn put the amount of shreds you want to feed the next day into the bucket and bring the bucket home. If you don’t want the bucket in the house just leave it in the trunk/car. Before you leave for the barn the next day bring the bucket in the house and pour hot water in it over the shreds. By the time you get to the barn it will be soaked and still warm. If you are afraid of spilling it in the car use a lid for the bucket. No need to wrestle with hot water at the barn. This is super easy!
You can get kettles with 1.7L capacity. Having used a kettle for years to prep cubes and beet pulp I can assure you that you need less hot water than cold, it is quite possible to turn the kettle off when the water is hot enough for your purpose, and if you pour boiling water on beet pulp before grooming and tacking up and dump the bucket into a larger feed pan when you finish riding it will be cool enough to feed very shortly thereafter. Unless you’re feeding a very large volume which will hold heat longer, or your climate is hot, or you groom, tack and ride in less than 30min total,. or… :lol:
I would say ideal (for me) is water at a temperature suitable for washing dishes - initially too hot to leave my hands in it but after a few dishes I have adjusted to it and it’s fine. If I let it boil because of whatever reason and I need it immediately I’ll pour some hot water out and add some cold water to get the temperature I want.
”‹”‹”‹”‹”‹”‹A kettle is an essential barn item for me when the barn doesn’t have hot running water available. I used it to get water for cubes and water for a hot compress tonight.
It does take some trial and error to work out what’s needed for any given use - like many things with horses. 
If you’re concerned about using hot water you can prep one serving at home in a bucket with a lid and just take it out when you go. I find the kettle easier though.
Kettles/bucket heaters are fine. Kettles are faster. Cold water turns too-hot water into…not 
I second Triple Crown Senior. I know you said your horse doesn’t typically do well on Senior feeds, but IMO TCSr is far and above most other Senior feeds. It’s amazing stuff, and because it’s a forage-based, high fat, high fiber feed it’s literally one of the gentlest out there. My horses always loved it and looked marvelous.
One other product I’d recommend that really helped one of mine that was having some issues with weight and digestion is Renew Gold Senior (has to be the Senior). That stuff turned one of my geldings around like nothing else, and he died looking like a million bucks (minus his broken leg). He hadn’t looked that good in years, it was so heartbreaking that I’d finally gotten him all straightened out nutrition wise and he was thriving and blooming…and a pasture accident ended his life.
I also like Empower Boost for just good old plain fat. I had a senior horse that went from looking “decent for his age” to ten years younger when put on Boost (top-dressed on TC Senior, btw). His coat gleamed with dapples and he filled out nice and round (always more of a lean machine).
Beyond that, lots and lots and lots of high quality hay. I’ve never had mine keep weight on like I’d like with coastal bermuda. I prefer timothy or even better a timothy/alfalfa mix. If that’s not possible, definitely supplementing with some soaked alfalfa cubes would be the way to go.
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