Consider Beet Pulp Instead of Oats!

By Juliet M. Getty, Ph.D.

 

Beet pulp is one of my favorite things to feed. It is the pulp of the sugar beet plant, after the sugar has been removed. So the remaining pulp has virtually no sugar. If molasses is added to improve taste, it is low — less than 3% --  that’s approximately ½ cup of sugar in 10 lbs of beet pulp. And you likely wouldn’t feed anywhere near that amount — it takes 2 quarts of beet pulp to equal 1 lb, so 10 lbs would be 20 quarts!

 

Beet pulp contains 15% fiber, a little less than the 18% fiber typically required to be considered a forage. But it is still a good source of fiber because this 15% is mostly digestible fiber, meaning it is easily digested by the bacterial flora in your horse’s hindgut. And better yet, it doesn’t get digested in the foregut, so blood glucose levels are not affected. So it has a low glycemic index and minimal insulin response, making it a wonderful feed for any horse that needs to reduce starch and sugar intake. And from a digestible energy (calories) perspective, beet pulp is right up there with the big cereal grains. It supplies 1.3 Mcal/lb compared to oats, with 1.5 Mcal/lb.

 

It comes in two forms — pellets and shreds. Pellets must be soaked to prevent choke. The shredded form can be fed dry, but soaking will ease your mind since it is very dry and some horses labor over chewing it. Soaking time depends on the water temperature. If you have hot water in your barn, the beet pulp shreds will soak this up almost immediately; pellets will require approximately 30 minutes. Cold water will take longer to soak up. But do not soak beet pulp overnight; bacteria and mold will accumulate.

 

Beet pulp is a good source of calcium, though not as high as alfalfa. Don’t worry about feeding too much calcium when offering beet pulp because much of the calcium is bound to oxalates, making it less absorbed. For the same reason, you cannot rely on beet pulp calcium to offset a high phosphorus intake (from bran, for example).

 

Finally, beet pulp makes an excellent carrier for supplements or medications. If your horse is on hay or pasture, and you want to add a vitamin/mineral supplement, you need to add it to something. The supplement will mix in well with soaked beet pulp, and you won’t find it sifting to the bottom of the feed bucket. One more thing — be sure to add your supplement once you’re ready to feed; don’t soak it since prolonged water contact will destroy most vitamins.

 

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Reference pages in Feed Your Horse Like A Horse:

·         Chapter 1 – Ground Rules for Feeding A Horse.  Pages 35-37.

·         Chapter 9 – Fundamentals of Concentrates and By-Products. Pages 135-136.

·         Chapter 12 – Weight Management. Pages 175-176.

·         Chapter 13 – Metabolic and Endocrine Disorders. Pages 208-209.

 

 

Helpful supplements

January 2011 Forage for Thought

 

Beet pulp is an excellent source of calories without the dangerous insulin response that cereal grains will create. If your horse is insulin resistant, there are two supplements that are helpful in lowering circulating insulin levels: Recommendations:

·         Quiessence (by Foxden Equine): http://gettyequinenutrition.biz/products/quiessence.htm  Quiessence provides magnesium and chromium, both found to lower insulin levels.

·         Nutra Flax (by Horsetech): http://gettyequinenutrition.biz/products/nutraflax.htm  Nutra Flax is pure flaxseed meal, that is stabilized against rancidity (6 month shelf life) and has a small amount of calcium added to correct for flaxseed’s naturally high levels of phosphorus.  Flaxseed is high in omega 3 fatty acids, which normalize insulin levels.

If you are only feeding beet pulp (along with hay), you’ll want to fill in the nutritional gaps with a comprehensive vitamin/mineral supplement. Here are a few from which to choose.

·         Glanzen Complete (by Horsetech): http://gettyequinenutrition.biz/products/glanzencomplete.htm  This is flaxseed meal based, so you will not need to also supplement Nutra Flax. A lower fat version is Glanzen Lite Complete: http://gettyequinenutrition.biz/products/glanzenlitecomplete.htm  which is also better for picky eaters.

·         High Point for Grass diets (by Horsetech): http://gettyequinenutrition.biz/products/highpointgrass.htm

·         High Point for Alfalfa diets: http://gettyequinenutrition.biz/products/highpointalfalfa.htm

·         MegaCell (by MVP Pharmaceuticals) for grass diets: http://gettyequinenutrition.biz/products/megacell.htm  This supplement contains a substantial amount of magnesium (3000 mg per serving), which is especially beneficial for insulin resistant horses or horses with behavioral issues caused by a borderline magnesium deficiency.  For alfalfa-based diets, go with MegaMag instead: http://gettyequinenutrition.biz/products/megamag.htm

 

 

For permission to reprint this article, in part or in its entirety, arrange for a private consultation or schedule Dr. Getty as a speaker, please contact her directly at drgetty@gettyequinenutrition.biz .