Hi Pam,

Somehow your question got embedded in earlier posts, so I'll answer it here.

Here is what you wrote:

I'm just changing my 250# mini gelding to Wellsolve L/S with hay from beet pulp and hay because all the beet pulp we get in this area is full of trash. My question is how much should he be getting? He's fed twice a day with a hay snack at lunch. Right now he's getting about 2 lbs. hay a day with 8 oz soaked beet pulp. The directions say .3 - .6 lbs per hundred weight which comes out to up to 24 oz L/S a day. Seems like a lot. Do I continue to give him the Glanzen Light?
Many, many thanks!!! Pam


You can safely follow the directions and feed according to his exercise need. At the low end, he would have 12 ounces (3/4 of a pound) per day.

However, offer him hay so he doesn't go for more than 3 hours without anything to graze on. You don't need beet pulp. You can replace it with hay as you mentioned. But, it's important to allow him to have as much hay as he needs to keep his digestive system healthy.

If he's maintaining his weight on just hay, you could simply give him Glanzen Lite to fill in the gaps, and add it to an even smaller amount of Wellsolve L/S where it would simply act as a carrier for the supplement. Adding a commercial feed is only necessary when the calorie need is higher due to exercise. It should not replace all the hay he wants. And, adding a vitamin/mineral supplement such as Glanzen Lite, will round out the diet very nicely.

All the best,

Dr. Getty

Where are you from? Bayfield, CO

I have a 15 year old Quarter Horse gelding (Minstrel) that I bred and have owned all of his life. He was diagnosed with IR/Equine Metabolic Disease syndrome in early January of 2008. His symptoms were atypical and we originally were treating him for an enlarged sheath and then a "hoof abscess". By the time my regular vet got back from the holidays and we x-rayed his rear hoof to see what was going on, we found that he had rotated the coffin bones on all four of his feet by 6 degrees. The next day we drew a fasting blood sample to test for both cushings and also insulin resistance. He tested negative for Cushings but positive for insulin resistance. Normal range was 4-8, his level was 27.5. We immediately switched him over to timothy hay. He was previously being fed a flake of brome and a flake of alfalfa hay) He also got 4 ounces of purina ultium 2 times a day to feed his meds to him in. The meds consisted of bute, 600 mg of isoxsuprine, quiessence and APF. After 8 weeks of this change to his diet all of his rotations except his right hind foot corrected themselves back to a 1 degree rotation. His rear right hoof rotation only improved to a 5 degree rotation. Although this was a step in the right direction, digital pulses were still present to varying levels in all four of his feet. I then started soaking the timothy hay to pull out some more of the sugar and he was still on the bute, isoxsuprine, APF and quiessence. In May my vet heard about Wellsolve and we thought it was worth a try since we were looking for something that might tip him out of the laminitic stage that often goes along with the Equine Metabolic Syndrome Disease. I started my horse on the Wellsolve Low Starch in early June, within a week of feeding it to him, he had no digital pulses. We decided to retest him for Cushings and also his insulin levels. He tested negative for Cushings and his insuline levels were back to within normal range. By the end of August, the rotation in his right hind foot had improved immensly. Upon starting to feed him the Wellsolve, we eliminated the quiessence from his diet, and then were able to eliminate the APF and the bute shortly thereafter. I currently feed him unsoaked timothy hay 10 pounds and then 6 pounds of the wellsolve split into three feedings a day. We are slowly pulling him off the isoxsuprine. I have to say that he absolutely loves the Wellsolve LS to the point were he drools while eating it. I have never seen him act that way with any other pelleted food that I have fed him. I am a big fan of the Wellsolve Low Starch food and this fall hope be able to keep him on the Wellsolve but switch him to a Brome Hay that has a marginally higher sugar content than the timothy hay he is presently on. I am now also a big fan of having a hay analysis done on any hay that I purchase so that I know exactly how much my horses need to be fed. I now also weigh all of my feed before feeding since I have a full sister to my gelding and she has always been the easier keeper out of the two of them.
I would prefer not to have to go through this again with another horse!

Where are you from? Colorado

How did you locate this forum? google

Michele,

So sorry to hear of all your difficulties. Dr. Getty will have something to add to this too I am sure. I personally owned a IR horse for 9 years, until he was 25. I lost him over a year ago. He had IR for 4-5 years before anyone gave a proper diagnosis. He had foundered 4-5 times by then, and by then had what they call chonic laminitis. When I finally found a vet to treat him properly and we got him on a NSC hay of below 10% 85% orchard grass/15 % alfalfa with a non molassas beet pulp and Triple Crown Low starch( at the time Well solve was not on the market) a vit/min mix with Dr. Gettys help to balance it all out, he did well the last few years he was alive, though he was never sound again, he could walk around fairly well outside with proper shoeing and pads, he was on bute for the last 5 years of his life. Finally the last year he developed a hoof abscess we could not heal, we tried every treatment available, his immune system shut down, and he developed a heart mummer. It was time to let him go. Which I did, and miss him to this day.

All I can say is be very careful about changing hays,or anything in his diet, even the smallest amount of extra sugar or carbs can set some of these horse off. Mine got set off in the spring for whatever reason, even though he was on a dry lot. Test your hay keep it below 10% NSC if possible,I fed my hay free choice as it was a safe hay. Have Dr. Getty recommend a vit/min that compliments your hay and the Wellsolve.

If you want to learn more go to safergrass.org. it is a very good site.

I wish you well and hope your horses remain healthy!
Della

Where are you from? WI

Della, How can I get my hay tested. I'm not sure who in my area can do it. What did you mean when you said keep it below 10% NSC?

Where are you from? Washington

How did you locate this forum? a friend

Charlene,
I have my hay tested at Equi-Analytical www.equi-analytical.com. You can go on the web page and request a sample bag and forms. You need a hay tester, they are expensive, so I go to my local co- op and borrow theirs. They are hard to use but you need one to get a good sample. You need to sample at least 6-8 bales of hay. Their site explains alot of this.

NSC is Non Structured Carbohydrates or the total of sugar and carbs/starch, they now do it a different way.
Now the test is ESC(simple sugars) and starch the combo of these 2 should be below 10% if possible some horses can tolorate 12% or more but the rule of thumb is 10%. My hay is from the same hay grower and I contract a years worth, it is always below 11%. I get the trainer test which has everything you would need, the ESC,starch, WSC, minereals,protein,Digestiable energy,lysine,acid detergent fiber,neutral detergent fiber,non fiber carohydrates,potassium, etc. the cost is $49.00, they will email the results right away.

I have my hay tested each batch,so I can taylor my horses vit/min etc.
My last test was: ESC-8.5% starch 1.4% total 9.9%. With a relative feed value of 159.

Hope this helps you!
Della

Where are you from? WI

Hello Michelle, Della, and Charlene!

Lots of good information posted here and thank you, Della, for your description of the benefits of a low Starch diet and hay analysis.

Michelle... I am delighted to hear how well your horse has done on a low starch diet. Purina has finally gotten on the low starch bandwagon and it is a pleasure to recommend their Wellsolve products. It is fortified with vitamins and minerals, but if you are not feeding it according to directions, you may want to add a supplement to fill in the gaps.

Where are you from? Bayfield, CO