Frequently Asked Questions About Speedi-Beet

What is Speedi-Beet?

Speedi-Beet is a pure unmolassed sugar beet pulp treated by a patented process that includes Micronization.

What is Micronization?

Micronization is a process where infra red rays causes the water molecules present in all feedstuffs to rapidly vibrate and heat up, causing water vaporisation and expansion. The almost instantaneous heating and vaporisation disrupts fibre, including that encircling the cells allowing “locked-in” nutrients to become available for subsequent digestion.

How does Speedi-Beet soak so quickly?

Once sugar has been extracted the pulp is dried and compressed into dense pellets. Water can soak through the closely impacted fibre only very slowly. With Speedi-Beet the manufacturing process forces the fibres apart, allowing greater accessibility to water. It’s like cardboard converted to blotting paper.

Why does Speedi-Beet have greater nutrient availability than beet pulp?

Not only does the manufacturing process of Speedi-Beet force fibres apart it also disrupts them. Non-fibrous nutrients that were encapsulated by fibre are now available to the digestive enzymes and the available surface area of the fibres is increased allowing more gut bacteria to attack and ferment them.

What are the correct proportions for soaking?

The recommended proportion is one part of Speedi-Beet to five parts of water by weight. For example 250g of Speedi-Beet should be soaked in 1.25kg (or 1.25litres: 1litre of water weighs 1 kg) of water. The amounts aren’t too critical. When first using Speedi-Beet, weigh out the amounts and judge the amount to scoop for subsequent feeds.

Does it matter if I use too much water?

No. Speedi-Beet can soak up to at least seven times its own weight, more than sugar beet pellets. The final mix will be a bit sloppier, but it is a good method for getting extra water into your horse.

Can I prepare enough for two feeds (i.e. over 24 hours)?

Yes. There is no problem, except perhaps during very hot, humid periods where there may be a slight risk from mould growth. This, though, is true for all feeds. The nutrients will remain unaffected.

Can Speedi-Beet cause Colic?

As mentioned in the previous point there is little swelling when Speedi-Beet is soaked, either before feeding or in the stomach. The problem with sugar beet pellets is the slowness of soaking. If fed dry the outside will swell up with water but the centre will remain impacted for a considerable time. If incompletely soaked, or fed dry, this impaction may cause gut motility problems that lead to Colic. Speedi-Beet soaks quickly and regularly and turns into a friable product that can flow easily along the gut.

Won’t the sugar cause problems?

Sugar beet pulp may be molassed and can contain up to 20% sugar. Speedi-Beet is only manufactured from unmolassed beet pulp, with typical levels of 5%. This sugar (sucrose, 50% glucose and 50% fructose) is not only highly digestible but also (due to the manufacturing process) highly available, and is entirely absorbed in the small intestine. In fact sugar absorption is essential to help active amino acid (protein) absorption across the gut wall. Problems may occur if too much sugar (or starch or fructans) is fermented in the hindgut, but this will not occur with Speedi-Beet.

Is this why it is good for laminitics?

Yes. One of the many causes of laminitis is thought to be due to too much acid production (especially lactic acid) in the hindgut. Lactic acid is absorbed but cannot be metabolised as quickly as other fermentation products such as the volatile fatty acids. Its build up causes conditions in the body that can lead to laminitis. In addition, acid conditions in the gut can change the microbial population and this may lead to toxic fermentation products.

Fermentation of Speedi-Beet produces good levels of volatile fatty acids, but levels of lactic acid lower than hay or oat fibre.

What about Cushings Syndrome?

Cushings Syndrome is associated with hyperglycaemia (too much glucose circulating in the blood) and abnormal patterns in plasma insulin. It is due to aberrations in the pituitary gland. As mentioned before the glucose levels in Speedi-Beet are low and will be largely used in the gut wall to help protein absorption. Levels absorbed will not affect the syndrome.

Is this the same for insulin resistant (IR) horses?

The sugar in Speedi-Beet is only 50% glucose; fructose will have no direct effect on insulin. The amounts of glucose, from Speedi-Beet, circulating in the bloodstream would have a negligent effect on overall levels.

All the same won’t I be better off not feeding Speedi-Beet.

Not necessarily. All feedingstuffs contain sugars, or chains of sugars (e.g. starch). In fact, at around 5%, Speedi-Beet has lower total sugars than oat feed (13%), Grass (11%), Alfalfa (8%) and most other feedstuffs.

If you are concerned, after soaking Speedi-Beet squeeze out the excess water and pour off. The sugar that had dissolved in the water will therefore be discarded. Trials have demonstrated a 60% reduction in sugar content, with only 1 “wash”.

Can I use Speedi-Beet to put weight on my horse?

Yes. Speedi-Beet can be added to any dietary regime. If put in over and above your horse normal diet, he will improve his weight and condition. Conversely it can be used as a top dressing to increase the intake of other feeds, or can be substituted for a less nutritious feedstuff. The nutritional profile of Speedi-Beet (in terms of protein, energy, vitamins and trace elements will fit easily with any combination.

Can I use Speedi-Beet to help lose weight?

Yes. Strange as it may seem, after the answer to the above point, it is possible to use Speedi-Beet to reduce weight.

Once soaked Speedi-Beet is quite bulky. Feeding this before turn out, or before providing forage, will make your horse feel quite full. As horses are trickle feeders they will tend to graze less and more slowly. You can feed him less and he will lose weight without losing condition. When he achieves the correct weight, feed the Speedi-Beet with his meals and intake will increase.

Can I feed Speedi-Beet to a convalescent horse?

Yes. Speedi-Beet can be fed in any situation. Its soaked bulk, if fed before other feeds will increase subsequent feeding time and allay boredom; its palatability will also help mask the taste of any medication introduced..

Is Speedi-Beet heating? Can I feed it to a “fizzy” horse?

Speedi-Beet has a lower overall sugar content than most other feedstuffs. The sugar (Glucose and fructose) is very easily absorbed and the majority will be used in the gut wall to aid amino acid and peptide (protein) uptake. The fibre profile, although readily available for microbial activity, is such that it is fermented to products similar to those found in hay fermentation in the hindgut. Other fibres, such as pectins, can be fermented higher up the gut releasing beneficial end products. This means that although Speedi-Beet has high availability of nutrients and energy they are released, in a controlled manner along the whole length of the gut. There are no sudden peaks of glucose or nutrient overload, which are causative factors in heating and “fizziness”.

My horse is very active. If I feed Speedi-Beet won’t he receive too little energy. Shouldn’t I be feeding cereals?

The horse has evolved to utilise fibre as its main energy source. In the wild he’ll graze on poor quality grass and avoid too much exercise, simply because he won’t have the energy. Now domesticated, we can put demands on him that require much higher levels of energy expenditure. Cereals, especially when micronized to improve starch digestibility, are the traditional method of supplying extra energy, rapidly. But Speedi-Beet will provide a controlled release of fermentation energy, at higher overall levels than other forages, and even some cereals. It can replace some or all cereal energy, depending on the amount of the horse’s activity.

Can I feed Speedi-Beet to a senior horse?

Yes. Once soaked it is palatable and easy to eat – even if your horse is missing teeth (it requires little chewing)- and the greater energy nutrient and energy availability will be of tremendous benefit. As horses get older their digestive efficiency declines and so a readily digestible feedstuff, like Speedi-Beet, is ideal.

Can I feed it to young horses, foals and mares?

Yes. The fibre profile is ideal for all ages and states, and the high availability of the other nutrients make Speedi-Beet a safe and concentrated feedstuff. The importance of feeding any horse is to provide the correct profile of nutrients at each stage of the horse’s life. The versatility of Speed-Beet means it can fit into any feeding regime.

What can I feed Speedi-Beet with?

As mentioned previously Speedi-Beet can be fed in conjunction with any feedstuff you would normally feed your horse. Commercial cubes, straights and forages can all be partially substituted with Speedi-Beet, depending on the horse’s requirements and activity.

How much Speedi-Beet can I feed my horse?

This is a bit like “how long is a piece of string?“ We would recommend, as a general guideline, 100g of Speedi-Beet (dry weight) for every 100 kg of horse weight – e.g. 0.25 kg for a 250-300 kg pony, 0.5 kg for a 500-600 kg horse. However the important factor, as with feeding any material, is observation. Start with these levels and adjust them according to the horse‘s general condition and activity. The most important thing is to provide plenty of forage. Adding Speedi-Beet should initially be at the expense of other straights, unless specific results (weight gain, high levels of activity etc.) are required.

I don’t feed sugar beet. Why should I?

The fibre profile of sugar beet is ideal for horses. Equally divided between cellulose, hemicelluloses and pectins, beet provides fibres that can be fermented along the whole gut length at different rates, as well as providing slowly fermented fibre and much needed bulk.

Fibre is an extremely complex range of ß-linked carbohydrates that varies between different plant species. The profile in sugar beet is such that microbial fermentation (the only way animals can utilise fibre) in the gut gives the right proportions of energy rich nutrients for the horse.

Why is Speedi-Beet approved by The Laminitis Trust?

The major nutritional cause of Laminitis is the microbial fermentation of non-fibrous carbohydrates in the hindgut. Sugar, starch (cereals, oilseeds, pulses etc.) and fructans (grass, alfalfa) reaching the hindgut are fermented by some microbes that are usually present in very low numbers. Their fermentation end products, including lactic acid (a major suspect in Laminitis) create a microenvironment that benefits them. Within a very short time they become the dominant species, disrupting the integrity of the hindgut and producing increasing amounts of adverse products such as lactic acid.

Speedi-Beet contains negligible amounts of starch; the sugar is highly available (due to the micronizing process) and is absorbed in the small intestine. There are no fructans. Therefore there is nothing in Speedi-Beet to disrupt normal hindgut function.