Personality transplant speedibeet &F.F

[Ragbea]

Is it even possible that my little horse can have a tiny amount of speedibeet morning an night (just enough to mix supplements in) an it turn him from a super chilled lazy lump to a monster seeing snorting tense mess! Anyone else find a tiny amount can change their horse? To be honest he was better to ride as more forward an didnt have time to look for monsters when working but cant have silly behaviour on the yard so rather have to work harder riding an have my dope back in yard an in stable!I then went back to a a basic chaff an my normal horse returned but supplements dont mix in great so tried a tiny amount of FAst fibre been on that just over a week but seems to have had the same effect! Didnt relise it also had beet an linseed in it! My bad for not checking !Still a tiny amount has made him see monsters! Is it even possible or is it my imagination? Left fast fibre out yesterday guess i will find out in a few days! Just interested if anyone else found the same!? Thanks for reading x

 

[ycbm]

If he goes back to normal and it never happens again think he's telling you it's possible

Until I had one with a strong food sensitivity (alfalfa and linseed in my case) I would never have believed so little food could make such a big difference.

 

[Ragbea]

If he goes back to normal and it never happens again think he's telling you it's possible

Until I had one with a strong food sensitivity (alfalfa and linseed in my case) I would never have believed so little food could make such a big difference.

Yes i guess it is possible! Only had him since last sept so thought must be a winter thing as the amount of feed was so small! But happened both times! Never owned a cob before either! Only cranky warmbloods who couldn't handle much feed but they was always wired anyway an he is soo chilled an lazy so I defo didnt think he would react lol!

 

[gallopingby]

Think it’s the FF there was a thread about it a while ago. I used it a couple of years ago and turned my normally quiet horses into fire dragons! Far more sugar in it than you’d realise unless you look at the ingredients in detail. Other feeds by the same manufacturer gave similar results.

 

[Pearlsacarolsinger]

Is it even possible that my little horse can have a tiny amount of speedibeet morning an night (just enough to mix supplements in) an it turn him from a super chilled lazy lump to a monster seeing snorting tense mess! Anyone else find a tiny amount can change their horse? To be honest he was better to ride as more forward an didnt have time to look for monsters when working but cant have silly behaviour on the yard so rather have to work harder riding an have my dope back in yard an in stable!I then went back to a a basic chaff an my normal horse returned but supplements dont mix in great so tried a tiny amount of FAst fibre been on that just over a week but seems to have had the same effect! Didnt relise it also had beet an linseed in it! My bad for not checking !Still a tiny amount has made him see monsters! Is it even possible or is it my imagination? Left fast fibre out yesterday guess i will find out in a few days! Just interested if anyone else found the same!? Thanks for reading x

I haven't had problems with those specific feeds but over the years have had horses react to; alfalfa, carrots, seaweed, Brewers' Yeast, NAFF Pink Powder and Haylage Balancer, molasses and all cereals. The first reactive one reacted to all cereal and any refined sugar, even the amount in a single Polo mint. Because of her, we learned to introduce new foods carefully, preferably singly and to monitor in order to be able to recognise when something causes problems. Now we try to feed nothing that isn't grass-based.

 

[Ragbea]

Think it’s the FF there was a thread about it a while ago. I used it a couple of years ago and turned my normally quiet horses into fire dragons! Far more sugar in it than you’d realise unless you look at the ingredients in detail. Other feeds by the same manufacturer gave similar results.

Thanks! I only used it as had it already for my really old boy! He is nuts, always has been but thought he wld calm down now he is in his 30’s! He has FF & SB as hay replacer i have always joked he is nuts because of all the slop he gets to keep his weight on ! But maybe the feed is making him crazier, keeping him young in the head tho an the body is keeping up for now!

 

[Ragbea]

I haven't had problems with those specific feeds but over the years have had horses react to; alfalfa, carrots, seaweed, Brewers' Yeast, NAFF Pink Powder and Haylage Balancer, molasses and all cereals. The first reactive one reacted to all cereal and any refined sugar, even the amount in a single Polo mint. Because of her, we learned to introduce new foods carefully, preferably singly and to monitor in order to be able to recognise when something causes problems. Now we try to feed nothing that isn't grass-based.

Thanks! I wouldnt give him anything if it wasnt for needing something to mix supplements in, need to avoid biotin as gets mallenders an it did trigger them in a chaff I was using! Went off thunderbrook chaff maybe as the bag was open too long as he has so little of it at a time! Now on their museli which he was fine on until i added a tiny amount of FF so supplements mixed better ? museli does contain linseed but i think with FF it tipped him over! Its literally a sprinkle of museli

 

[Pearlsacarolsinger]

Soaked grassnuts smell ice and would probably take the supplements just as well as FF

 

[RHM]

My fell pony can’t tolerate even the smallest amount of sugar beet. Last time he was on it he was living with some unbroken ponies and I honestly thought I had pulled the wrong pony from the field! I second the suggestion of soaked grass nuts that’s what he gets now and does really well on them.

 

[Clinging on]

My horse was put on speedibeet for a week just to put some weight on. He underwent a personality transplant. His eye also changed (a look of defiance!). He was snorting and violently spooking at things he normally doesn't bother with and then spooked as I was getting on in the arena, spun, reared up and put me on the floor. I took him off it immediately and after about 4 days when it was out of his system, I got my horse back. He is 3/4 TB. I am wondering whether certain horses are genetically predisposed to reacting to either the calcium in speedibeet or the sugar?

 

[EASTIE17]

I thought the whole point of speedibeet was that it doesnt have much sugar?
What are good alternatives that people have tried that doesn't have the same effect?

Always afraid of choke with grass pellets, I know soak but, hard to get a good brand also, some of the added ingredients are mixed

 

[millikins]

Yes i guess it is possible! Only had him since last sept so thought must be a winter thing as the amount of feed was so small! But happened both times! Never owned a cob before either! Only cranky warmbloods who couldn't handle much feed but they was always wired anyway an he is soo chilled an lazy so I defo didnt think he would react lol!

If you've only had him since Sept, is it possible that it's the grass coming through that's causing the silliness?

 

[Birker2020]

I thought the whole point of speedibeet was that it doesnt have much sugar?

It is. I remember their advert saying that there is more sugar in a medium carrot than a whole scoop of speedibeet (made up). It is approved by the Laminitis Society/Trust

From the Speedibeet website:

Recent work has shown Speedi-Beet has a higher fermentative rate that ordinary beet pulp, and so can readily replace starchy feeds without loss of performance.

These key factors make Speed-Beet suitable for laminitics:

1. Low sugars,
2. No starch
3. It rapidly ferments to provide slow release energy
4. It helps maintain normal absorptive processes in the hindgut.

 

[RHM]

My pony goes bonkers on speedibeet. I actually think it might be due to the relatively high levels of protein. It’s exceptionally low in sugar compared to some things!

 

[MissTyc]

We had one who only needed to sniff the speedibeet to turn completely feral. It would take a few days to wear off again. He was the same with any type of added oil, so I don't think it was the sugar setting him off.

 

[Pearlsacarolsinger]

I thought the whole point of speedibeet was that it doesnt have much sugar?
What are good alternatives that people have tried that doesn't have the same effect?

Always afraid of choke with grass pellets, I know soak but, hard to get a good brand also, some of the added ingredients are mixed

Emerald Green are the best grassnuts that I've found, they don't have anything added, we always added a bit of dried grass chaff to soaked grassnuts. We are currently feeding Agrobs haycobs, which the horses love.

 

[EASTIE17]

Thanks all, yeah its amazing the impact feed has on some, especially ponies. I'm slowly coming to the conclusion that ponies don't need any hard feed at all, except maybe some balancer.
I wonder how many people condemn an animal to the naughty step without ever really considering the diet, always seems to be the first place to start especially if its a new acquisition.

 

[Elno]

My horse turns into the devil when on a common pelleted vit/min supp here in Sweden. Cannot for the life of me understand what it is that sets her off. It's 80g of it per day so shouldn't have an effect, but somehow it has, and if you up the amount to say 120-160 g for a few days she basically goes mental ??‍ I've tried it several times with the same results because it honestly doesn't make sense to me because of the small amounts fed. She also doesn't seem to be allergic or intolerant to it (no itching, caughing or breaking out in hives) but her behaviour on it is one step from being pts. It is now completely banned from the feed room. She's also a (overgrown) pony btw, and don't need any hard feed. Trying her on just a forage diet now to see if there's an improvement.

 

[Brownmare]

Sugar beet is high in calcium so will upset the ratios of calcium to magnesium and effectively induce a secondary magnesium deficiency. One of the main symptoms of magnesium deficiency is spooky, wired behaviour. I would suggest trying the beet or fast fibre again but adding in some form of magnesium supplement alongside it and if the wired behaviour does not return you will have your answer!