We are all aware of the cost-of-living crisis which is affecting so many of us at the moment, from our food shop to the fuel we put in our cars. It does make us question what we are feeding our horses and ponies, how much it costs and whether it is the best way of providing them with a high-quality food source whilst maintaining the correct levels of nutrients.
If this is the case, you might want to consider feeding Speedi-Beet and Fibre-Beet. They are both soaked fibre mashes which expand when soaked and therefore can make your money go further. These feeds are high in fibre and low in starch and sugar.
How long will a bag last?
Our conditioning feed Fibre-Beet is a carefully formulated combination of Speedi-Beet and Alfalfa supplemented with biotin, sodium and calcium. One bag of Fibre-Beet will give you 85 Stubbs scoops therefore, at an RRP of £19.09, this bag of feed will cost just 22p per scoop. When soaked it expands to three times its volume and holds three times its weight in water.
Using the best quality, UK sourced Beet Pulp, our highly nutritious, quick soaking Speedi-Beet is 95% sugar free. The RRP is £17.70 and one 20kg bag of Speedi-Beet will give you 125 Stubbs scoops, at just 14p per scoop. Speedi-Beet expands to five times its volume too so can give a cost effective and nutritious meal every time.
Winter Hydration
Another key thing to note is that during the winter, intake of hay tends to increase as grazing quality decreases and your horse spends more time in the stable rather than in the field. Hay and haylage contain less water than grass meaning your horse or pony’s water intake is lower. In addition, cold drinking water becomes less appealing to the horse, especially on very cold days.
Our mashes can be soaked with warm water and can help aid rehydration whilst providing warmth to the gut and stimulating hind gut fermentation. Using warm instead of cold water to soak your mash, your horse will use less energy to keep his core temperature at the optimum level and maintain a more consistent body temperature.
Enhancing Forage Supplies
During the winter when turnout is restricted and the quality of the grazing decreases, many horse owners look to introduce a forage replacer to enhance and extend forage intake and keep bulk fibre levels high for a healthy gut. This amount of dry matter supports the maintenance of normal digestive function, along with providing adequate energy to support bodily function and condition. For horses that tend to drop weight in the winter and need extra calories to support this, feeding ab lib forage is recommended.
Forage replacers ideally need to be split up into as many small buckets as possible to support natural trickle feeding behaviour throughout the day. Fibre-Beet can be used as a forage enhancer or to replace forage (up to 60% of the daily forage allowance) when turnout and other forage options are limited. For example, 1kg meal of soaked Speedi-Beet or Fibre-Beet could replace ½ kg of hay. If you would like further feeding advice, please contact our friendly and knowledgeable team on 01765 680300.
