Why doesn't anyone feed bran anymore?

[Maesfen]

I'd be lost without my Kossolian but you might have to order it in from your local feed store (made by the same people as CLOP I think).

I remember Red Cell coming out; the results were very amusing as long as you weren't on board; reminds me a bit of Red Bull!

 

[AdorableAlice]

So glad I am not the only old fossil on here that is still feeding the old fashioned way.

Anyone remember using flaked peas to give a hard working hunter a bit of umph ?

 

[Auslander]

I'd be lost without my Kossolian but you might have to order it in from your local feed store (made by the same people as CLOP I think).

I remember Red Cell coming out; the results were very amusing as long as you weren't on board; reminds me a bit of Red Bull!

I wonder if it still has the same effect! I swear that Rec Cell taught me how to stick! Still remember my grandfather grumbling at my granny, because "all the bloody things have grown horns since you started feeding them that jungle juice stuff"

 

[rockysmum]

LOL I was advised to feed our little cob Red Cell, naked oats and racehorse mix and in addition syringe glucose into her mouth just before her classes.

And the result, absolutely nothing, not even a tiny bit of added sparkle.

Never actually saw any point to Red Cell what does it actually do.

 

[Maesfen]

I wonder if it still has the same effect! I swear that Rec Cell taught me how to stick! Still remember my grandfather grumbling at my granny, because "all the bloody things have grown horns since you started feeding them that jungle juice stuff"

LOL! I can imagine.

Yes, Alice, remember the peas, that had a similar effect sometimes!

 

[Rose Folly]

So agree with Adorable Alice and others. It's an under-rated foodstuff, and does all the things they said. It's palatable, any medicinal powders cling to it, it is nutritionally of low value but keeps the gut moving and, served nice and warm and with other things in it, is a wonderful comforter for a horse after a hard day's hunting or competition work.

In my teens I hunted my Connemara x TB pony five days a fortnight when I could. He had had a slight kidney problem from early youth, and the bran mashes, we thought, were of great value in keeping his guts and bladder working! Apart from the above problem he was very healthy; but he was a pony who gave all he had and more, and when really tired he used to scream with delight when he smelt his warm bran msh coming.

Used judicially, it has many attributes - and it makes a smashing poultice, for horses, dogs AND humans!

 

[Oberon]

LOL I was advised to feed our little cob Red Cell, naked oats and racehorse mix and in addition syringe glucose into her mouth just before her classes.

And the result, absolutely nothing, not even a tiny bit of added sparkle.

Never actually saw any point to Red Cell what does it actually do.

Red Cell is high in iron - which would be great for humans....but is terrible for horses. Their forage is invariably too high in iron as it is. Then by adding more - which robs the horses of the minute traces of copper they can get access to, and the poor horse has no reliable way of excreting excess iron, is terrible

So all Red Cell and other high iron supplements do is overdose iron - which has many side effects.

There has never been a recorded case of anaemia cause by low iron in a horse. Low copper is usually the cause.

I fed Red Cell to The Tank after a virus once, on the advice of the vet. I am horrified that I did so now!

 

[mainpower]

They were saying that bran had little nutritional value when I first started keeping horses nearly 40 years ago! I started feeding bran again about 6 months ago when I put my horses on haylage and they both became a little "loose". Fed dry it binds, fed wet it has mild laxative properties. I feed about a lb a day split into two feeds.
I wonder how horses survived for so long before all these wonder feeds were on the market to make them go faster/jump higher/weight on/weight off...

 

[Yertis]

I get mine from Charnwood Milling, the all have 1/2 scoop in evening mixed with unmollassed sugar beet and sups

 

[Oberon]

I wonder how horses survived for so long before all these wonder feeds were on the market to make them go faster/jump higher/weight on/weight off...

Dig a bit deeper than what they say in the bumpf and you get more confused...and angry

 

[Deseado]

Most bagged mixes are triumphs of marketing IMO, vast majority of leisure horses don't need ANY hard feed, nor supplimenting. Feeding is really VERY simple: if it looks good, do nothing. If it looks poor, feed it more. If it looks fat/behaves like a looney, feed it less.