Why do we soak sugar beat?

Gingerwitch

Gingerwitch

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Lots of posts on here today about various types of sugar beat, and i was wondering why in the Uk we are so particular about soaking it, whereas in the USA it is pretty much fed "raw".

I was always taught it is because it expands when soaked - and for me this is the only reason we soak - but are there any others?
 
the amount of water it absorbs in the gut when fed soaked would cause impaction colic and dehydration in horses.

in america it isn't fed in the same quantities and their rations tend to be more like a porridge anyway. (or at least that's what I've been led to believe)

Edited to make sense!
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Actually both of these reasons are 'old wives tales' and neither is likely to happen if we feed our horses unsoaked sugar beet (provided they're teeth are in good working order). The horses stomach and gullet are more than capable of dealing with the expantion of sugar beet and unless the horse is fed a really huge amount it most certainly will not cause dehydration.
The reason it is fed raw in the USA is the majority don't believe it will choke or cause colic in thier horses and it is often fed it in quite high quanties.
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Thanks Wonkey-donkey - I was just starting to panic as i am sure i fed the sugar beet i soaked tonight, instead of the one i soaked last night !

You have just saved me a drive to the yard and yep its snowing !
 
Um. I would be really worried if people didn't soak it. I know of two perfectly healthy and relatively young horses that died following sugar beet impacted colic. If you use it you know how much it swells. Is it worth taking the risk, seriously!!!
 
Also, it is in the large intestine where the serious problems occur as this is where the fluid is absorbed from. Not the gullet and the stomach. This can lead to impacted colic and even more serious, a ruptured intestine. Maybe the States sugar beet differs from ours but I for one would never ever feed it unsoaked and I hope people don't try to do so after reading this thread,
 
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Actually both of these reasons are 'old wives tales' and neither is likely to happen if we feed our horses unsoaked sugar beet (provided they're teeth are in good working order). The horses stomach and gullet are more than capable of dealing with the expantion of sugar beet and unless the horse is fed a really huge amount

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Rot. I too have seen horses lost through colic and in one case, choke, because someone had fed them unsoaked sugarbeet pellets. I am shocked that anyone would think that it is ok and horses will cope. They don't, and I have seen the result.

Never, never NEVER feed sugarbeet pellets unsoaked.
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I once remember years ago, a horse on our yard got to unsoaked sugerbeet and gorged on it. It was a very horrible thing to watch.
He had servre choke and the suger beet was falling out of his nose, and he was drooling everywhere. He was put on a drip as he became dehydrated. He then developed colic and almost died. Luckily he pulled through.
 
When they say they feed it raw in the states do they mean it has not been processed so it is still like a succulent a bit like a suede?

It may not be exactly the same product.

My friend accidently mistook some sugar beet for pasture nuts when feeding another person's horse and when she realised several hours had passed - she called the vet and the vet said the horse would probably be fine, just keep it in and check it regularly and it was fine.

What is quite interesting is that if you add water to most types of nuts and leave them over night you will see they will too expand to nearly three times their size so I am not sure if it the expanding in the tummy thing that causes the colic.
 
We never soak ours for more than 8 - 12 hours and have never had a problem, having said that I would never feed it completely dry. The bulk of the swelling takes place in the first few hours, after that it swells only a little more and as we don't feed anything in huge quantities don't consider it to be the slightest risk. Having seen just how much it can swell I can understand that if a horse gorged on it then there may be severe consequences (this would be the same if they gorged on ANY hard feed although possibly for different reasons, just colic as opposed to sugar beet induced colic!). I am aware that it is fed dry in the states and I'm sure they know what they are doing, if horses were dropping down dead with colic all over the place then I'm sure they would soak it. I think we are just very cautious in this country and worry a little too much sometimes.
 
I don't know about how many horses drop dead from unsoaked sugar beat, but i do know i will do anything i can do reduce the risk of any illness and discomfort or risk to any horse. Therefore i would never feed it unsoaked, just to be sure. Also the neds love it all sloppy and mushy, i wouldn't want to upset them
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Actually both of these reasons are 'old wives tales' and neither is likely to happen if we feed our horses unsoaked sugar beet (provided they're teeth are in good working order). The horses stomach and gullet are more than capable of dealing with the expantion of sugar beet and unless the horse is fed a really huge amount it most certainly will not cause dehydration.
The reason it is fed raw in the USA is the majority don't believe it will choke or cause colic in thier horses and it is often fed it in quite high quanties.
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This is infact correct, I still soak mine though
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There was an article about this in one of the smaller magazines, may have been Equestrian Life (but don’t quote me on it) in last months issue, a feed expert was talking about it, he went on to say that it doesn’t need to soaked unless your horses is the sort that bolts its food because of the risk of cholk and because the horse won’t be chewing it properly, if the horse chews the food up properly then by the time it reaches the stomach and has time to expand due to the moisture, its already making its way out of the system etc

I found it quite interesting, I suppose it also depends on quantities you feed the type of beat and the individual horse, so I don’t think it’s as straight forward as saying its ok to feed unsoaked suger beat because there are so many factors to take into consideration, hence why suppliers will state on the bags that it should be soaked or recommended feeding suggestions etc, because its safer if everyone feeds it the same way, by soaking it.

I just hope for all those that have read it, or been told about it etc don’t just suddenly think well I’ve not need to soak it now, as it could potentially cause a problems for some horses.


He also mentioned that there are quite a few veteran mixes on the market that contain unsoaked sugar in them, so whether this is in the form of small pellets or flakes I don’t know, but obviously its mixed in so the amount you feed in a scoop or daily amount would not cause any problems.
 
I soak it because:

1. I always soak any significant quantities of a cubed feed, as I have had horses choke on dry pony nuts or high fibre cubes before.

2. Soaked sugarbeet makes an excellent base to hide supplements, medication and oil in.

3. It is a good way to up the fluid intake.

However, I find it never needs the amount of soaking they suggest on the bag.

I'd be interested to know what form of beet they feed in the States though - is it pelleted (which I think would be more likely to cause choke) or just loose shreds?
 
I read that article. That man writes very interesting articles. He was saying i think if they were combined with other food it was ok. But i think they were talking about speedibeet/kwikbeet
 
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I'd be interested to know what form of beet they feed in the States though - is it pelleted (which I think would be more likely to cause choke) or just loose shreds?

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I was wondering this too. A horse on our yard gets a mix with dry sugarbeet in, but it is shreds (and on examination there is hardly any!) so would not swell up anywhere near as much as pellets.
 
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Also, it is in the large intestine where the serious problems occur as this is where the fluid is absorbed from. Not the gullet and the stomach. This can lead to impacted colic and even more serious, a ruptured intestine. Maybe the States sugar beet differs from ours but I for one would never ever feed it unsoaked and I hope people don't try to do so after reading this thread,

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quite agree, that's my understanding too. In very small amounts then you might get away with it, but I don't think it's worth the risk.
 
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It depends on the concentration it is given in, if you give a large quantity of unsoaked sugarbeet alone it could cause a problem but some feeds (Badminton Show and Conditioning mix for example) use it unsoaked as the low inclusion of it compared to the rest of the mix is so small it would not cause an issue.


http://www.badmintonfeeds.co.uk/products.php?id=54&cat=26

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Yep, it is actually speedibeet in this mix - I use the Dressage Mix and that has it in too. As you say, the quantities are small enough to be OK.

Would never ever ever feed sugarbeet raw, anyone doing so is asking for trouble. I cannot believe that anyone would think it ok.
 
I don't think everyone is talking about the same product. The nuts need long soaking as they are compressed.

The flakes Kwik Beet, SpeediBeet, have been processed in some way to make them quicker to soak, as well as flatter so the water is absorded faster.

I thought one of the reasons for feeding soaked SBP is to keep the horse hydrated.

The Simple systems endurance all-in-one feed also contains dry SBP. It is obviously OK to feed it as a certain proportion of a mixed feed if the horse has good teeth to chew it.

It is also true that "ordinary" nuts swell up a lot, but not as much as compressed SBP nuts I think.

I will still feed it soaked - and with added hot water in this weather for my hands as well as horse's stomach.
 
We have always soaked ours - think it's more palatable this way anyway and makes misxing in supplements etc easier anyway.

Never 'tested' the colic causing theory and don't think I'll risk it but we did have an old horse who once broke into the tack food and consumed about half a sack of dry sugar beet and he didn't suffer any detrimental effects. Mind you, he also ate a fair bit of dried cement (hmm, he was odd!) Lived to the grand old age of 36 though! Lol

Some horses can probably cope with ingesting it dry more than others. I guess soaking it is just one of those precautions many of us take.
 
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Actually both of these reasons are 'old wives tales' and neither is likely to happen if we feed our horses unsoaked sugar beet (provided they're teeth are in good working order). The horses stomach and gullet are more than capable of dealing with the expantion of sugar beet and unless the horse is fed a really huge amount

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Rot. I too have seen horses lost through colic and in one case, choke, because someone had fed them unsoaked sugarbeet pellets. I am shocked that anyone would think that it is ok and horses will cope. They don't, and I have seen the result.

Never, never NEVER feed sugarbeet pellets unsoaked.
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Agree. When I was a child someone I knew went to catch their pony with a handful of sugarbeet pellets and didn't realise the mistake until afterwards... after their ponyy was Dead from colic. From a handful of them.

Why risk it?

We don't know what the product in America is like... for example, it could be flaked like speedibeet, in pellets or even treated/bound with something which means it doesn't expand as much. Maybe its fed fresh from the refinery and not dried at all?
 
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