Ask the Nutritionist: Dr. Getty's Forum for Equine Nutrition
Welcome to my forum.
Here you will find more than 6 years of questions and my answers. It is searchable and offers a great deal of information.
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Take a look at my Nutrition Library and Tips of the Month for a variety of answers on selected topics. Be sure to sign up for my monthly e-newsletter, Forage for Thought.
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All the best,
Dr. Getty
Hi Sherry,
You're doing a great job! Keep his meal size limited to no more than 4 pounds to prevent colic. A horse's stomach is really quite small in relation to the rest of his digestive tract and too large a meal can cause food leave to the stomach before it has been processed (pulverized and mixed with digestive enzymes).
You can definitely add beet pulp and/or alfalfa pellets. If he's not getting alfalfa hay, go with the alfalfa pellets. Alfalfa is a legume and helps boost the protein quality of his diet, thereby giving him the building blocks from which to make body tissue.
And, be sure he has good quality grass hay in front of him at all times. This is very important.
Rice bran is fine, but only use a commericial product that is stabilized and has additional calcium added to correct the inverted calcium to phosphorus ratio.
He may have an ulcer -- most retired race horses do. And this can interfere with weight gain. Consider giving him Amiquell to help his digestive tract heal.
Happy Holidays!
Dr. Getty
Where are you from? Bayfield, CO