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  Twin Sister to Queen Boobie
Posts: 13315
   
Location: East Tennessee but who knows?! | Please read this FIRST - it's an article on the toxicity of beet pulp. Over the years I've read several other similar articles....
http://mhwf.websitetoolbox.com/post/interesting-read-on-beet-pulp-6792849
I had to put my 25 year old gelding down unexpectedly yesterday that I have had since he was 3. I can't help but wonder if beet pulp wasn't a contributing factor.
He had always been a hard keeper/ finicky eater and he'd been on beet pulp (6 cups dry measure soaked) for a lot of years. At one point in time however, by a process of experimenting and elimination, I noticed that beet pulp caused him to go off his feed, as did molasses and joint supplements. About that same time, he started having a vague hind end lameness where he was off. I retired him at that point. That was about 8 years ago.
Eventually, to save money I put back on premix feed and eventually added a little beet pulp to stretch hay, along with alfalfa cubes, and some chargeable. I was able to maintain him for a long time like that and at one point he flourished.
The last year I noticed he was getting weaker in his hind end when he would rear up playing or get up. Then about three months ago, he got to where he wouldn't eat his cubes or very little of his feed (Strategy ) but he would clean up all of his beet pulp. So I started feeding him better quality hay and a scoop of beet pulp twice a day with whatever feed he would eat. He also got rice bran.
I noticed him getting a little more unsteady in the hind end. Then yesterday I went to bring him in and he couldn't control his hind end. All he could do was spin around in circles to the same side no matter where you pointed his head. He lost his balance several times and fell in the hind end. I called the vet and we put him down.
I can't help but wonder if if his hind end weakness isn't tied somehow to the increase in beet pulp. I've always had that suspicion. I've kept other horses on it off and on without problems, but they never got as much as he did.
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 Northern Chocolate Queen
Posts: 16576
 
Location: ND | So sorry that you lost your gelding.
I don't know if I believe there is any link between the beet pulp & what happened or not. For your own sake, don't beat yourself up over it. You fed him what worked for him at the time & made the best choices you could with information you had available at the time. He was not a young horse anymore & it's very likely there was much more playing in than the fact that he'd been fed beet pulp.  |
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 Quarter Horse HIstorian
Posts: 2878
Location: Aubrey, Texas | I will read the article in a minute, but first let me say how sorry I am about your gelding. It is so hard to lose them, no matter what the circumstances are. |
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Worlds Greatest Laugh
Location: North Dakota | I am very sorry about your horse but I seriously doubt that this was caused by beet pulp. If you do more research, you will find at least 2 experienced, well educated veternarians that have done extensive research on feeding beet pulp to horses that rebuke the above article. I do not personally know the author of the article you posted but when I read the first 2 sentences of her article, it sends off alarms.
"As a holistic practitioner for more than 12 years, I have assisted more than 100 horse owners with equine diets and nutrition. I have studied and gained quite a bit of experience with equine veterinarian, Dr. Lee Miller, for fifteen years."
Here is why I automatically have doubts about her "research"...number 1 "holistic practitioner". What does this exactly mean? What educational base does she come from? Then she lists her experience...100 horses over 12 years. Do the math. Thats approx 8 horses a year, less than 1 horse a month. Personally, her first 2 sentences has me questioning the validity of her article. |
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 Warmblood with Wings
Posts: 27846
Location: Florida.. | Im sorry for your loss to.. . But id not connect the 2 . There is a few illness and conditions that cause that which id be more inclined to lean toward those..
botulism also makes them loss hind end ..
nuerological issues from old age, strokes to name some.. again very sorry for your loss.. |
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Blessed 
Location: Here | SaraJean - 2015-03-28 12:39 PM So sorry that you lost your gelding.
I don't know if I believe there is any link between the beet pulp & what happened or not. For your own sake, don't beat yourself up over it. You fed him what worked for him at the time & made the best choices you could with information you had available at the time. He was not a young horse anymore & it's very likely there was much more playing in than the fact that he'd been fed beet pulp.
I agree... Sorry for your loss but I have feed way too much to believe beet pulp is the cause.... |
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Blessed
Location: Here | Bibliafarm - 2015-03-28 4:47 PM Im sorry for your loss to.. . But id not connect the 2 . There is a few illness and conditions that cause that which id be more inclined to lean toward those..
botulism also makes them loss hind end ..
nuerological issues from old age, strokes to name some.. again very sorry for your loss..
I agree Sounds more like ionophore poisoning
Still hate it for you |
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Blessed
Location: Here | Sounds like he maybe had a stroke.... |
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Blessed
Location: Here | And honestly if you go to the author of this article she is pushing her product... So I don't put a lot of faith in it |
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| What the lady sez in her article are true. She left out the number one thing on beet pulp and other waste products from mfging human food ... the processing leaves a lot of heavy metals in the waste products that horse feed mfgrs use to increase their profit lines. ..
Over the past few years the horse feed mills have lobbied Canada and the USDA to omit heavy metals from their beet pulp analysis formats. You will find no mention of the heavy metals in todays analysis'.
Heavy metals are like arsenic poison ... they never leave the body and continue to build up over time and start affecting different organs .. the kidneys are the most apparent and drugs are used to mask the real cause. Once the heavy metals have created a certain loss of activity in various organs there is no way to flush the excess out of a horses organs and muscle tissues. .. Horses can improve their health by omitting the source of heavy metals and some organs can grow stronger to compensate for the damage that has already been done. .. As you can see problems evolve over time and are tuff to pin down unless you are honest with your horses feeding program and use the most natural feeds available and the fewest supplements possible to maintain his heath and energy levels. Giving too many supplements also can create toxicity in your horses by simply overloading them with the wrong minerals and vitamins .. and most of the causes of these gimps and limbs are undetectable .. so easy on the vitamins and minerals ...
Take what the lady stated as the hard truth and do your own detective work on how heavy metals affects our horses...... I think you will be stunned ..
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I posted the following on the alfalfa thread as my answer for my all natural feeding program for my horses of all ages ...
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ADM bought out the old Moorman Feed Company and of course ADM had some college grad horse nutritionists that started messing with your horses school lunches... I believe her name was Michelle and ADM feeds went from containing groats and recognizable grains to processed human food waste like rice bran/hulls, beet pulp, floor sweepings, grain products and ethanol corn waste materials. This is when I stopped feeding their 14% Patriot feeds 5 years ago!!
GroStrong Minerals is the best you can buy ... it is still on the old MoorMan vitamin to mineral ratio and the special way the minerals are chelated and produced in the same old mill for the past 40 years. I will continue to use GroStrong even tho ADM has doubled it's price .. i.e. 50 lb sack of loose GS used to cost <$35 now you only get a 25 lb bag ...
If you want a balanced feed ration for growing, working, pasture dwellers and older horses you can't beat alfalfa, corn and whole oats ... as an overall balanced feed.
The above is also easier on your feed bill.
I use an all natural 3/8" beef feeder pellet of 60% alfalfa/40% ground corn at $8.20/50# bag
and whole oats at $11.35/50# bag and one block of alfalfa hay along with 3-4 coastal Bermuda per day. Along with a handful of GroStrong minerals 3 x per week. .. NO OTHER SUPPLEMENTS!!
Mixing a 5 gallon bucket with a standard 3 qt plastic scoop which will weigh 3 lbs... layer the feed by scooping 2 scoops of pellets, then one scoop of whole oats ... alternately till bucket is full (8 scoops = 24#'s) Now as you scoop the feed from bucket to horse feeder it gets mixed by itself.
(including the block of alfalfa hay and 2-4 scoops per day it works out to be a 14% all natural feed that is very balanced and forces horse to chew and salivate while eating ... there is a lot of great things to say about digestion when a horse is forced to slow down and use his own spit to begin the digestion process. ... (the reason horses have great big jaw teeth are to chew with) .. lol
I hope you noticed there is nothing in this feeding ration you can't pronounce and are not familiar with as a forever basic nutrition program for relaxed, growing babies or hard working horses...
If you want your horse to have an oily even shinier coat that will glow in the dark ... add a half cup of whole flax seed to his daily feeding. Again.. the slime on the exterior of whole flax seeds aid in digestion and whole seeds will not turn rancid as the ground flax does and loses it's purpose.
The only supplement I will use is an iron supplement on race track or speed event horses to build up their red blood cells so they have access to more oxygen when under hard exertion at the finish line. .. FYI a horse has almost a gallon of blood in his spleen that is used as a extra boost if it is well supplied with oxygen carrying red blood cells. This internal supply of oxygen ready red blood cells is what keeps a horse running when their breathing can't supply the oxygen they need to keep rolling... It is funny how things are today .. the heavy marketing ups the price on maybeso supplements and the cheapest and the most successful one with no marketing is the best iron supplement with a name difficult to forget ... RED CELL ... lol ..
GOOD LUCK ... use the KISS program and old horse will never be happier or healthier ... |
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Rad Dork
Posts: 5218
Location: Oklahoma | So sorry for your loss. |
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Sock Snob
Posts: 3021
| I do feed a beet pulp// hay pellet// mixture// along with alfalfa forage and some field hay or grass in am and 15 pounds have at night horses look good and this beet pulp and hay pellets by blue seal. When i fed this mixture in the winter and immodify in summer a i mix thenam mix at night and pm mix in am. The horse dentist said ther teeth looked betterfor the last 3 years and my horses drink more water they dont chew on the trees or wood. Just have a good mineral program. |
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 Love Me Some Robert Redford
Posts: 2335
Location: WV | Sorry for your loss |
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 I Prefer to Live in Fantasy Land
Posts: 64864
Location: In the Hills of Texas | I'm so sorry for your loss. |
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 Shelter Dog Lover
Posts: 10277
| So sorry for your loss |
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 My Heart Be Happy
Posts: 9159
Location: Arkansas | So sorry |
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 Money Eating Baggage Owner
Posts: 9586
Location: Phoenix | So sorry....the way it ended sounds heart wrenching. Don't beat yourself up. It could have been many other things. |
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Twin Sister to Queen Boobie
Posts: 13315
Location: East Tennessee but who knows?! | Thanks everyone. I do think it's possible that he could have had a stroke - he had a bruise on his gums so I wondered if he had fell on his face at some point. But I wonder too if the increase in beet pulp could have been a contributing factor in the increase in weakness over time. |
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Blessed
Location: Here | Fairweather - 2015-03-28 9:36 PM Thanks everyone. I do think it's possible that he could have had a stroke - he had a bruise on his gums so I wondered if he had fell on his face at some point. But I wonder too if the increase in beet pulp could have been a contributing factor in the increase in weakness over time.
anything is possible... But honestly I don't think so. beet pulp is one of the safest feeds out there... |
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Expert
Posts: 1694
Location: Willows, CA | Was this horse ever tested for EPM? Sorry for your loss. |
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Twin Sister to Queen Boobie
Posts: 13315
Location: East Tennessee but who knows?! | winwillows - 2015-03-29 12:15 PM Was this horse ever tested for EPM? Sorry for your loss.
No, he wasn't. At the time he originally started having soundness issues, the only EPM testing we had available here at that time was spinal tap and it was expensive. Since he only had a gait abnormality, no pain or problems otherwise, and I retired him, I couldn't justify the cost at the time. |
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Expert
Posts: 4766
Location: Bandera, TX | So sorry, I to believe that metals can cause harmful issues to our horses. I've fed beet pulp but in limited portions, during times of long hauls.
Turmeric Essential oil has many useful properties and many more being discovered by western scientist. Including, binding of heavy metals and elimination from the body. |
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I just read the headlines
Posts: 4483
| uno-dos-tres! - 2015-03-29 2:38 PM
So sorry, I to believe that metals can cause harmful issues to our horses. I've fed beet pulp but in limited portions, during times of long hauls.
Turmeric Essential oil has many useful properties and many more being discovered by western scientist. Including, binding of heavy metals and elimination from the body.
Where do you get your turmeric essential oil? |
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Expert
Posts: 4766
Location: Bandera, TX | Anada Apothcary |
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I just read the headlines
Posts: 4483
| Thanks |
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Beet Pulp & Hind End Lameness?