Psyllium Husk?

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Pearlsasinger

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Please can anyone recommend a supplier of psyllium husk to feed to horses? Is it best fed as a powder?
We are on sandy soil (lots of former quarries in the area) and this year the ground is so wet that there is almost no grass left in the winter field, so they are grubbing around finding roots and I am concerned that we need to avoid sand colic.
We keep emptying sand out of the water trugs, as I don't think they are really washing their feet, I can only assume that this sand is coming from their muzzles as they drink. Don't want to move them onto fresh grass as that will disappear quickly, too, unless the ground dries up.

TIA
 
Do they have plenty of hay? When i was on sandy soil and looked into this research showed that feeding 2.5% of body weight per day of hay was more effective at clearing sand than psyllium or other supplements trialled. I fed ad-lib hay in feeders off the ground. Psyllium supplements are much of a muchness, it's all the same ingredient and most supplement brands sell it - you feed it for a week then take 3 weeks off, feeding it daily reduces its effectiveness as the gut gets used to it.
 
My soil is very sandy too. I feed treat balls in the field rather than buckets so they don't fight but it does cause them to pick at the ground a lot more than they probably would otherwise. I notice sand in the water trough which I think is transferred from their noses.

I have fed the unbranded psyllium husk powder from the local feed merchants but I have a fussy one so I've bought sand ex pellets this time to see how they go.

I've also bought from horse herbs previously.

I've never fed it as @KikiDee has mentioned above. Usually I've given them a week on it every couple of months.
 
I think Forage Plus is always a reliable place to get things like that, pretty sure that's where I purchased for one of my ponies. Good prices and very fast delivery also.
 
poiuytrewq said:
I think Forage Plus is always a reliable place to get things like that, pretty sure that's where I purchased for one of my ponies. Good prices and very fast delivery also.
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I always struggle to get their website to work sensibly! I usually get my VitE from them but had so much trouble last time that I bought from the other lot whose name escapes me atm. And then waited ages for it to arrive! Tbf it was over the New Year period but I was getting a bit cross by the time it got here.
 
KikiDee said:
Do they have plenty of hay? When i was on sandy soil and looked into this research showed that feeding 2.5% of body weight per day of hay was more effective at clearing sand than psyllium or other supplements trialled. I fed ad-lib hay in feeders off the ground. Psyllium supplements are much of a muchness, it's all the same ingredient and most supplement brands sell it - you feed it for a week then take 3 weeks off, feeding it daily reduces its effectiveness as the gut gets used to it.
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They certainly do! They live out 24/7 and usually leave some hay in the shelter. We deliver it to them 5 times per day so that they don't just walk all over it and waste it. At this time of the year it's all in Hay Cubes in the shelter or they would be eating it mixed with sandy soil all the time (if it didn't blow away).
 
Feedmark sand free. Used to be called psyllium husks, which it is, but they dumbed the name down. It still does the job though, and I’ve never had a horse refuse to eat it. I add it immediately before feeding a dampened feed so that it doesn’t start absorbing water too soon.

www.feedmark.com

Sand-Free™

Sand-Free™ forms a gel-like substance when exposed to water and scoops up unwanted foreign material from the digestive tract in horses
www.feedmark.com www.feedmark.com

Fussy horses might do better with a pelleted psyllium product.
 
dorsetladette said:
My soil is very sandy too. I feed treat balls in the field rather than buckets so they don't fight but it does cause them to pick at the ground a lot more than they probably would otherwise. I notice sand in the water trough which I think is transferred from their noses.

I have fed the unbranded psyllium husk powder from the local feed merchants but I have a fussy one so I've bought sand ex pellets this time to see how they go.

I've also bought from horse herbs previously.

I've never fed it as @KikiDee has mentioned above. Usually I've given them a week on it every couple of months.
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Our winter field is on a hill so I doubt that treat balls would work here but they still manage to get sandy noses - and the cob has a magnificent moustache in winter, which she washes regularly in the water trugs. We only have the 2 now and they are *very best friends* so except very occasionally they get on together, helped by the fact that cob is haltered so that she can't go and eat out of the wrong bucket.
 
Pearlsasinger said:
Our winter field is on a hill so I doubt that treat balls would work here but they still manage to get sandy noses - and the cob has a magnificent moustache in winter, which she washes regularly in the water trugs. We only have the 2 now and they are *very best friends* so except very occasionally they get on together, helped by the fact that cob is haltered so that she can't go and eat out of the wrong bucket.
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I think it's the sheep that cause most of the arguments in our fields. I have one most mornings with the biggest one!!
 
dorsetladette said:
I think it's the sheep that cause most of the arguments in our fields. I have one most mornings with the biggest one!!
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One of our favourite memories is of one of our ewes standing up to the cob who would be 4 or 5 yrs old at the time. Cob seemed to decide that she wanted the particular blade of grass that ewe was eating and very purposefully walked the short distance towards her and lowered her head to eat, ewe did nothing more than lift her head and bang! headbutted her. Bossy cob looked rather confused and opted to graze elsewhere.
 
I've used Colonaid pellets before...also you can feed at half the dose rate constantly - a horses gut can't get used to it.
 
Pearlsasinger said:
Please can anyone recommend a supplier of psyllium husk to feed to horses? Is it best fed as a powder?
We are on sandy soil (lots of former quarries in the area) and this year the ground is so wet that there is almost no grass left in the winter field, so they are grubbing around finding roots and I am concerned that we need to avoid sand colic.
We keep emptying sand out of the water trugs, as I don't think they are really washing their feet, I can only assume that this sand is coming from their muzzles as they drink. Don't want to move them onto fresh grass as that will disappear quickly, too, unless the ground dries up.

TIA
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My RDA uses the big buckets of omega equine psyllium now after one of the ponies sand colicked horribly twice in quick succession and ended up in horsepital
One week of one scoop per feed, then 3 weeks off and the bucket lasts ages.
Y main complaint would be it's a pain to scrub off feed buckets, it's like cement.

Can you feed hay in feeders? Something like a mortar bath with slabs in the bottom then hay in slow feeder nets to stop sand getting in it and make it last longer so they're not digging about in sand.
 
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