Sugar beet help!!

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minime

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Morning everyone.
I have finally found a shop that sells sugar beet (very rare here in Italy) and my question is how long do i need to soak it and how much should I feed my mini's.
At the moment they are eating hay pellets by St Hippolyt which contain 15 different types of grass twice a day with 1/2 cup of oil, Yea-sacc and Excell E multi vit. and then hay out in the field. I was hoping to add the sugar beet as it starts to get cold. ( it will reach -10° in January)
I used to feed it years ago when I lived in the U.k but need refreshing.
Thanks in advance.
 
I use sugerbeet shreds and soak them for 24hrs before use. Bit of a faff but cheaper than speedibeet. In the cold weather it stays useable for 2/3 days when soaked, but in the warmer weather it goes pretty ming after about a day and a half.

I did read somewhere that 12hrs is enough, but it says 24hrs on my bag so thats what I do.
 
I would have thought overnight at least, aiming for 24 hours if that is possible.

With regard to quantities, well I personally would start with about a cupful per pony, I guess it depends how you feed them, do they all have their own bowls, or is it greediest get the most?
 
It used to be 12 hours for shreds and 24 hours for cubes. Have got so spoiled by Speedibeet now - 10 mins tops! Perhaps you can be the person to introduce it to the Italian market!!
 
I was meaning a tea cupful of the "finished" version - ie, soaked.

Oh and just in case it's your next question, I soak one stubbs round scoop of beet in a 3 gallon bucket of water (that's a standard size bucket by my reckoning)
 
If you use the normal shreds, an hour is plenty, i have fed them in less than that, the cubes take a little longer, you just need to make sure they are all broken up.

Speedi beet is a big con.... normal shreds don't take much longer ;)
 
Daisychain said:
If you use the normal shreds, an hour is plenty, i have fed them in less than that, the cubes take a little longer, you just need to make sure they are all broken up.

Speedi beet is a big con.... normal shreds don't take much longer ;)
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Goodness - have I spent the last 25 years being conned?!! What I could have been doing when instead I was waiting for sugarbeet to soak!
 
Yep!! I used to be paronoid about soaking beet for hours, until i read how in america they feed it dry and the nuts lol! Im not recommending this though!

Think about it though, you only want it too expand, and its usually done that in less than an hour, pellets a litte longer.

If you soak it how they recommend it just goes off most of the time, especially when its warmer!
 
Daisychain said:
Yep!! I used to be paronoid about soaking beet for hours, until i read how in america they feed it dry and the nuts lol! Im not recommending this though!

Think about it though, you only want it too expand, and its usually done that in less than an hour, pellets a litte longer.

If you soak it how they recommend it just goes off most of the time, especially when its warmer!
Click to expand...

Had no idea that they feed it dry in the states! They won't be passing their BHS Stage 1!
 
Knew someone who, mistakenly, fed beet nuts instead of horse & pony nuts and the horse had a major choke and she had to call out the vet. Very serious and it was touch and go whether the horse pulled through. Fortunately, it did.

Wouldn't recommend feeding unsoaked beet.
 
mcnaughty said:
Put hot water on it and it soakes even faster - over night easily.
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I agree. Also i recommend experimenting. Soak a few shreds in a bowl for 1 hr then 12 hrs then 24hrs compare size. The pellets re very dense and very dangerous if not soaked or not soaked enough. they take a lot longer to soak through thoroughly. You can try the same experiment with them.
What you are looking for is nice fat bits of sugarbeet:):)
 
If you dont want the molasses then if you soak in a lot too much water you can just pour the juice away and most of the molasses with it. You can also rinse the soaked sb too to get rid of molasses residue. Personally I dont bother as they like the molasses but if you have a problem with it eg a laminitic then its a good idea to rinse the sb well.
 
Cubes at least 12hrs - experiment as sometimes they seem to take longer. The shreds soak pretty fast - I'd put them in a bucket, pour on water, put the lid on - into the car and then drive 10miles to the paddock . By the time I got there it would be well soaked.
 
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