Sugarbeet

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MosMum

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Hey all, is anyone feeding sugarbeet this early in the winter, and if so why?

Recently on here a couple people suggested adlib hay for my horse and a balancer, which I'm doing, but a friend is now suggesting sugarbeet when the feed store said that, while is might be necessary later in the winter, as long as he's warm and keeping condition for now it isn't necessary yet.

Any ideas?
 
Mine get speedibeet (unmollassed) from Decmeber (ish) onwards. Once all our grass is gone and the weather starts biting they will get half to one scoop with each feed of dengie and balancer. I have an oldie and a 2yo and this worked well last winter. I will try to introduce it before they drop significantly but not too soon. They also have ad lib hay.
 
Ours have a little sugarbeet in with their chaff now, mainly because it is low sugar and starch, suits ours well and is not too expensive. They get it all year round with their supplements.
 
Sugarbeet is just another form of highly digestible fibre (as long as it hasnt been coated in nasty mollasses - then it comes a form of highley digestible fibre...and sugar!) so it's just the same as feeding your horse a really good hay or haylage.

I don't know why people get so 'hung up' about when to feed sugarbeet. To be honest, when soaked its about 80% water anyway, so unless you are feeding buckets, it's not going to make an ounce of different to your horse's waist line!

Personally I am feeding my prone to being skinny TB 'purabeet' - simple system's unmollassed SB at about 2kg dry weight a day, and hoping this will help to maintain his weight. To give you an idea of what 2kg dry weight looks like soaked - 2 large rubber skips full to the brim each day.
 
Yes, me.

My horse, who spends the entire summer being borderline obese (despite being turned out on practically dust over night only, being fed overnight soaked hay, little hard feed, and exercised 7 days per week, sometimes twice a day), dropped a lot of weight towards the end of Oct. He gets adlib haylage and I have upped his normal feed, changed his chaff to Alfa A, added oil and am also feeding sugar beet. I like my horses to be trim but he is really lighter than I would like him so the beet is aimed at either putting back on a bit or weight, or at least maintaining his current weight.
 
My old mare gets beet all year round as she needs it to hold her weight and we don't have brilliant grazing. So there is no 'rule' about when you should start to feed it - if they need the extra condition then you can start feeding it whether it is September, November or January!

Other reasons you might want to add it, apart from condition, is that being soaked it can help keep horses hydrated if they are shy about drinking when the weather with cold, and it can also help keep everything moving internally if they are otherwise only getting dry feed and hay and little grass.

If I am feeding it for condition, I always measure it out before soaking so I know exactly how much they are getting.
 
One of my horses has it all year round, time of year doesn't come it into it, if your horse requires an extra source of fibre or something non heating to add other hard feed/supplements into then so be it.

If your horse is currently at his or hers ideal weight and you know there will be no changes that will alter his weight (lack of grazing/getting cold or increased exercise) then there is no point feeding it, do what's best for your horse not just want others tend to feed at certain times of the year, there all different.
 
I started giving it to mine last week as the grass is now gone and it is starting to get cold here. A couple of my mares could be pregnant so I don't want them to loose condition. Plus it looks and smells yummy, you should see how they tuck into their dinner now they have it. Down side is they all have brown noses now.:eek:
 
kazhar said:
I have been feeding it all summer as the grass in the field was none existant and my lad was losing too much weight.
Click to expand...

Yep me too, otherwise he would of lost weight.
A lot of people think it is 'old fashioned' but if it ain't broke don't fix it!

I have just fed it in winter, mainly because when summers used to be half decent there was plenty of grass and it goes sour quick in summer, but i now i make it up in a coolbox which solves this problem :)
 
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I feed as soon as they start coming in over night and are on hay.
It's a fantastic way to get water into them and so it's my way to help reduce the risk of impaction colic, especially when they've been used to 24/7 grass.
I feed wet, sloppy SB with soaked alfa twice a day plus my balancer.
Excellent source of fibre!
 
i feed half a kg a day (dry weight) split over 2 feeds
along with rolled barley and cool stance:)
ive been feeding sb since i noticed the horse starting to loose condition.:rolleyes:
 
My boy gets a scoop of sugar beat all year round. All the horses on my yard do. Chaff, conditioning cubes and sugar beat, it suits them all well and they are looking good on it so happy days!!
 
i feed un mollassed(spelt wrong) sugar beet - plenty fibre but no un wanted sugar and big lad will start that next week - he will be on healthy hoof and unmollassed sugar beet for winter with half bale hay a night - and little lass( on constant diet ) can have it to be it tiddly potions lol :)
 
SB is a "succulent" so I feed it to all my horses once the grass has gone - but definitely the unmolassed stuff, Simple System is good. Along with Alfalfa. Don't do processed feed.
 
My boy has had it all year, but he's only a baby and putting all of it into growing. He's looking fab on his diet and not getting fat so will be keeping it up until things change :)

I think it's completely dependant on your horse, so do whatever works for them
 
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*possible numpty question*

Can someone tell me a brand of un-molassed sugar beet apart from speedi beet/quick beet.

I have just started using Trident Supa beet but i have just realized that it is molassed and now i fear my horses brain might explode! Just looking for a cheaper option then Speedi beet really, i'm not fussed about soaking times.

Thanks :)
 
I've been feeding speedibeet for about the last six weeks. I recently brought a very skinny (we're talking neglect skinny) mare home from hospital and have been giving her speedibeet and Alfa A twice a day with ad lib haylage - no mix. I really can't believe how much weight she has put on. I appreciate fatties don't need it, but it is superb for putting weight onto skinny TBs!
 
dottie - Simple systems pura beet and trident equi beet are both long soak and unmolassed, pretty sure the trident one is cheaper than speedi-beet and if you're using trident at the mo then your supplier should be able to get it for you.
 
I too have a super skinny TB - neglect case - just had him a week & he's having sugarbeet - with coolstance - his ribs are harder to see already... well.... to me they are lol :D
 
I use to use mollichaff, sugar beet and mix and was costing a lot off money and horses had crap feet.

Iv changed to topspec balancer, alfa a and speedybeet, so no added sugar and the results are amazing. Will not change them now and cheaper in the long run. Strong hoofs , skin , no mud fever because if you feed well it shows outside.

I will not use the cheap mollased sugarbeet and pile my horses full off sugar
 
Thanks guys, I appreciate all horses are different etc, but I only bought Mo this Summer so I don't know how he winters/holds weight etc, especially since he's been kept in a stall since he was a foal. So shall I wait to see if he loses condition before adding in sugarbeet?

Thanks x
 
I feed speedibeet when the horses are stuck in for any reason or when I can't soak hay. They get a bucket of speedibeet and alfa and reduced hay ration. They do really well on it and when its too freezing to soak hay it ensures they get plently of water as B is not a great drinker in his stable. I did use normal unmolassed sugar beet but found it was freezing in the bucket while it was soaking. By using speedibeet I can soak it quickly with a kettle of warm water as required rather than trying to feed sugarbeet ice lollies!
 
we're feeding speedibeet already... with alfaa oil and stud balancer. Ron is hunting on that (and will do until he loses some of his flab :eek: - he is the only horse I know who can be hunting fit and still flabby!). Tom is more or less roughed off so he just gets the same in smaller quantities.
 
Yup I am feeding Speedibeet now, really good source of fibre and calories.

I am feeding it with Spillers Original Balancer and HiFi or Just Grass depending on the horse, one of them is also getting Instant Energy Mix because she works quite hard and needs the extra energy. another is getting Conditioning Nuggets too as she needs extra calories.
 
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