Tying up
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- Grade II Winner
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- Joined: Tue Dec 07, 2004 10:14 am
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- Grade II Winner
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- Joined: Tue Dec 07, 2004 10:14 am
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- Grade II Winner
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- Joined: Tue Dec 07, 2004 10:14 am
Rationer balancers are the backbone of my feeding program. Think of it like total cereal, it provides 100% of the day's requirements in a very small amount ie 1 or 2 pounds. You just have to supplement for extra calories which for a horse that ties up should come in the form of fat. I use Pennfield All Phase but most lines have their own balancer. Triple Crown has a good one as does Progressive Nutrition.
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Look into a magnesium supplement--if she's low on mag, that will add to the tension and nervousness.
Magnesium oxide is cheap as chips and can be bought a most feed stores in a 50lb bag, or there are various supplements on the market. I've had a lot of success with one horse with SmartCalm Ultra. After being on the mag a few weeks, a cool horse with a sweet personality, lots of brains, and fantastic work ethic rose from the ashes of a flighty, spooky, crabby, and temperamental grouch. I've heard very good things about Mag-restore (dimagnesium malate) for extremely nervous horses, but haven't used it myself.
If the weather's nice, you can give her a hot bath with epsom salts. Some of the magnesium will absorb straight through the skin.
Another great alternative for calories without grain or much starch are straight-up hay (NOT ALFALFA) pellets or cubes...both provide calories, cubes long-stem fibre, and may be an option if your mare won't eat beet pulp. You do need to soak them before feeding to prevent choke.
Note about alfalfa: it has a lot of calcium, and she'll uptake the calcium before she uptakes the mag, so mineral imbalance. If she's on alfalfa, try taking her off of it and adding the mag supplement, and see how she does.
Magnesium oxide is cheap as chips and can be bought a most feed stores in a 50lb bag, or there are various supplements on the market. I've had a lot of success with one horse with SmartCalm Ultra. After being on the mag a few weeks, a cool horse with a sweet personality, lots of brains, and fantastic work ethic rose from the ashes of a flighty, spooky, crabby, and temperamental grouch. I've heard very good things about Mag-restore (dimagnesium malate) for extremely nervous horses, but haven't used it myself.
If the weather's nice, you can give her a hot bath with epsom salts. Some of the magnesium will absorb straight through the skin.
Another great alternative for calories without grain or much starch are straight-up hay (NOT ALFALFA) pellets or cubes...both provide calories, cubes long-stem fibre, and may be an option if your mare won't eat beet pulp. You do need to soak them before feeding to prevent choke.
Note about alfalfa: it has a lot of calcium, and she'll uptake the calcium before she uptakes the mag, so mineral imbalance. If she's on alfalfa, try taking her off of it and adding the mag supplement, and see how she does.
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- Breeder's Cup Contender
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Jean wrote:Thanks everyone. She will eat beet pulp but the vets say not to feed that as it is high in sugar and last year she never tied up till we tried getting her more calories by feeding it so I think we will eliminate that , she is just beginning to train again for 2012 and we are looking for some ideas.
Hah! That helps:
Aside from its energy density, beet pulp is also a relatively good source of calcium. Though not as high in calcium as alfalfa at 1.2%, beet pulp is sti ll a good source at .62%-higher than any other commonly fed horse feed except for dehydrated milk.
Source: http://shady-acres.com/susan/beetpulp.shtml
Given that she didn't start tying up or having problems until she went to a higher-calcium food, I'll bet you dollars to doughnuts she needs mag.
Start giving her a bath with epsom salts or magnesium chloride BEFORE she works out or races, and a magnesium supplement with her food. The MagRestore at Performance Equine might be the best way to go, you get more mag at a smaller dose than magnesium oxide and less likely to give her loose stools. It's really hard to oversupplement with magnesium--she'll get loose stools well before you get anywhere close to toxic levels.
Try getting rid of the beet pulp and any alfalfa if she's eating it. Check your hard feed--sometimes they contain alfalfa meal or beet pulp. Laurie's suggestion of a ration balancer is great.
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Incredible article there Shammy and very informative which basically says that there are dozens of reasons that bring on tying -up. I had a mare last year that sometimes would tie -up terribly but I would hit her asap with Banamine and Acepromazine and she would be ok in an hour or so. She won 3 races at 3 different racks when the weather cooled off but she was a nightmare when in heat. I guess she fell into the "hormonal issues" category.
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