Glycogin Loading and heat

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Roger
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Glycogin Loading and heat

Postby Roger » Thu May 19, 2011 5:12 pm

I read in the new Trainer magazine that soluable fiber like beet pulp was the best sources of glycogin for horses. Alfalfa is almost as good. Then in 5/14/11 Thoroughbred Times, we are warned that the heat generated feeding these will raise the body temp. That is important in Texas during the summer. What do you guys see as a cool way to re-fuel a horse? My spelling is still bad.
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kimberley mine
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Postby kimberley mine » Fri May 20, 2011 5:30 am

This might be of interest to you:

Heat is produced in the process of digesting, absorbing and metabolizing any feed. And this heat is useful for helping the horse to maintain its body temperature in cold weather. The greatest amount of heat produced during digestion comes from the breakdown of fibre by the microorganisms living in the horse's large intestine. The higher a feed's fibre content, the more heat produced during digestion. Therefore, more heat would be produced from the digestion of high fibre feeds like hay or beet pulp, compared to heat produced from digesting low fibre grains like corn, barley or wheat. Although low in fibre, even oats produce about 25% more heat during digestion than other grains because of the fibrous hull surrounding the oat kernel.


Source: http://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/$department ... ll/hrs3243

Given that horses need long-stem fibre for their digestive systems to work, I don't see any way you can not feed something like beet pulp/hay. Even being on pasture will cause heat generation.

Lots of shade, lots of water, and feeding early in the morning and late in the evening will mitigate the heat generation.