Hello Cindy and Rusty,

You are doing a wonderful thing for this fellow and I congratulate you on your fine work and compassion.

The first thing I would suggest is to soak the Beet Pulp. You mentioned that you are feeding it dry. This is causing fluid to enter into the large intestine and could be aggravating the situation. So, go ahead and divide it among several meals, but soak it in warm water for a couple of hours before feeding it to him. And, discard any uneaten soaked pulp since it can spoil and become infected with bacteria.

The probiotics are a good idea. I would also suggest supplementing an electrolyte preparation until the diarrhea stops. Then you can switch to just adding iodized salt.

Diarrhea can be caused by moldy hay. Check to make certain that his hay supply is dry and smells fresh. Eating too quickly and bolting down his food can also cause diarrhea. If you find that this is a problem, you may want to offer him more frequent meals. And, you can also slowly add a legume hay (such as alfalfa, clover, or peanut hay) to his hay ration, to boost the nutritional content.

As an immediate treatment, I would recommend thiamin (vitamin B1). Do not administer IV or IM, since some horses have a negative reaction. Instead, I would add it to his food or give it to him orally. You can buy Vitamin B1 by itself for horses, or even for humans, and crush the tablets. Give a dosage of 500 mg each day to start.

Once you have the diarrhea under control, than you can work on putting some weight on him. In addition to beet pulp, try a stabilized rice bran product. Rice bran oil is fine, as well, but the rice bran itself has additional nutritive value. There’s also a product called “Omegatin” that is an excellent top dressing for adding additional fat and high quality protein to the diet that I often recommend and use for my own horses.

I hope this is helpful. Please keep me posted on his progress.

All the best,

Dr. Getty

Dr. Getty,
Thanks for your prompt response. I appreciate it. I'll certainly add the B1. About electrolytes. Not familiar with these in horses - is there a specific product that you would recommend? Also, he has free access to a mineral block - the brown kind, not just salt - and I did notice last week that he was really licking it a lot. Smart guy that he is.

I will start soaking the beet pulp first next week [everything is already premixed up for this week, don't have the time to pick it out flake by flake ;~}]. Can I increase the amount, or would you recommend keeping it the same for now?

I have checked his hay, and it does smell fresh to me. I only get about 50 bales at one time, and it is grass hay. I can probably get ahold of some alfalfa hay in a couple of weeks to mix in. In the meantime I have some alfalfa cubes - should I soak a few of those each meal and add them in as well?

Rusty is a rare and wonderful soul, and I enjoy him immensly. Even at his age, he still gives me a nice ride once a week where we both enjoy the fields around us. So, I think we're both lucky.

Thanks again Dr. Bennet.
Cindy & Rusty

Where are you from? Ohio

How did you locate this forum? Google search

Hi Cindy and Rusty,

You can find electrolytes for horses in any horse supply or feed store. They are generally apple flavored and look like salt, but they also have other electrolytes. Just add the recommended amount to your horse’s feed each day. You can still keep the mineral block – he’ll probably lick it less often once the electrolytes are in his diet. But, the fact that he’s so eager to lick it is a strong sign that his body is in a deficient state.

Keep his feed the same for now, but you can add some warm water to it, since it is premixed, and let it sit for a few minutes to soak up the water. Once you finish with the premixed feed, you can soak just the beet pulp. And, the alfalfa cubes are a good idea – just a small amount to start with – and soak those, as well.

I hope you’re able to give him the Vitamin B1 (thiamin) right away. That should create immediate results. I’ll be eager to hear how he’s doing.

All the best,

Dr. Getty

Thanks Dr. Getty.
Apologize for referring to you as Dr. Bennet - not sure where that came from.

Will get him on the B1 starting tomorrow, hopefully the electrolytes as well. Will start soaking his food too. Had not done that previously as I thought it might add to the problem. Will introduce a few alfalfa cubes this weekend if he stays diahrrea-free for a few days.

Thanks for all the info, and we'll keep you posted on how he's doing. And thanks again for providing this service to the horses.

Cindy & Rusty

Where are you from? Ohio

How did you locate this forum? Google search