How much sugar beet?

[carys220]

I was at a (public) yard a few weeks ago and they had a horse that had been on field rest due to needing shoes.....after the farrier had been the owner of the place (who owned all the horses) said 'oh he looks thin, get him on some sugar beet!' TBH I think she was more bothered about the way the horse looked than his health!

So one of the girls went off and made up 3/4 of a small water bucket of speedy beet......she gave it to him but he wasn't interested....(quite luckily for him I thought!) I was horrified by how much she was giving him as his first feed in months, seemingly just to fatten him up!

But I haven't fed sugar beet for years and when I did it was no more than one scoop per pony....so how much would be right for a 16hh cob?

 

[kerilli]

if he's skinny, up to about a scoop (round, normal type) of soaked sugar beet, twice a day, would be the max i'd feed.
but if he's really underweight i'd have him on good hay, with feeds of Graze On, Alfa A, Conditioning Cubes, and sugar beet as the topping...!

 

[carys220]

Well it wasn't the worst of the things I saw at this place....I was so glad he turned his nose up at it!

 

[charlotte24]

3/4 of a bucket glad he didnt eat that!!!! They should firstly up his hay.
16hh Cob should weight roughly 600kg. Horses eat 2.5 of there body weight eg 600/100= 6.0x2.5=16.25kg
If he is in light- no work he should be fed 80% Hay/Glass
20% Hard feed

So 12.8Kg Hay
and 4Kg hard food (Split into 3 meals)

I would feed him chaff, Mix, and sugar beet

 

[hellybelly6]

New feeds should be introduced gradually.

Have you considered rugging him over night? A horse will use 80% of his energy keeping warm.

 

[merlinsquest]

Whispers........ its not her horse, it was at a yard she went to recently!!!!

 

[charlotte24]

merlins quest........... Whispers.. Shes asked the forum what it should have been fed

 

[carys220]

Just to add.....I would NEVER treat my horse this way!

I did say in my OP that it was a yard I went to and witnessed this....

 

[merlinsquest]

whispers..... even more quietly...... Its not her horse, so its no use asking if she has considered rugging it... is there????

.... I was replying to hellybellys post