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Regular
Posts: 80
Location: Olds Alberta Canada | Hi
Looking for some help....We are moving to a new place and I have noticed that the ground is a bit sandy. I have read some horror stories about sand colic and would like to prevent it as much as possible. We are going to build a feed bin for the gound kind of like a big tub. I also was told feeding a cup of beet pulp will help. Does anyone else have any suggestions for feeding on sandy ground?
Thanks! |
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 Extreme Veteran
Posts: 582
Location: Wherever They Send Me | When I fed on sandy ground I fed them in tubs on mats, and swept the mats before I fed each time. I also fed psyllium once a month for 10 days. |
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"Heck's Coming With Me"
Posts: 10794
 
Location: Kansas | I've lived in super sandy soil for years and have never had any colic because of sand. Rarely colic of any kind. We have feeders with hay mounts and they work great. Most of our horses we feed inside barns and the ground gets pretty firm there so it's not a problem. I did have a friend who lost a horse to sand colic but she fed alfalfa on the ground in loose sand and her horse picked up the leaves ingesting sand with them. That was just not very smart. |
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Pig-Bear Dog Lover
| amandacamarano - 2013-11-28 2:54 PM
When I fed on sandy ground I fed them in tubs on mats, and swept the mats before I fed each time. I also fed psyllium once a month for 10 days.
Ditto I feed psyllium and I also feed soaked beat pulp. I live in very sandy terrain, moved just recently. |
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Regular
Posts: 80
Location: Olds Alberta Canada | awesome. thanks for the info! |
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 Member
Posts: 32
Location: WisCONsin | My horses pasture up by the barn looked like a beach, grainy sand at my moms house were I grew up. We fed round bales on it and never had a problem. We learned a trick from a friend out in southern NV. She fed apple cider vinegar after she had a horse have major issues with sand colic and stones. She said as long as she fed that she never had a problem again. We started pouring ACV on all their grain about a week to 2 weeks a month. Don't do it everyday because it will change the acidity in their stomachs too much. It's worked for me and my horses love it. |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 641
Location: Michigan | The best thing to do is to feed the hay on mats or tarps. Even if it's in a feeder, you want to ideally put the feeder on top of a mat or tarp because inevitably some of the hay will fall out and they will eat it off the ground.
As for the psyllium- I feed it for a week several times a year. However, there is no proof that it works, and the vets at the universities and vet schools will tell you this. However, they will also recommend it if a horse is prone to sand colic. It's cheap enough that I do it sometimes even knowing that it might not do anything.
ETA: grammar.
Edited by DVM2Be 2013-11-29 10:29 AM
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Expert
Posts: 1694
Location: Willows, CA | Don't feed directly on the ground. Use feeders or mats as mentioned above. Psyllium one week per month if you have horses that eat directly on sandy ground. Most pelleted psyllium does not work as well as loose product because the pelleting process seems to partly denature it. Loose psyllium can be hard to get the horse to eat, and you may need to trick them into eating it. Apple cider vinegar may have some effect on stones, but will not move injested sand out of the hind gut. Keeping it from getting in there in the first place is the best answer. |
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