# Sugarbeet and colic



## FairyLights (17 January 2013)

Article in this weeks H&H about colic. Says horses fed sugarbeet tend to have an increased risk of colic. As do those stabled with little turnout.


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## meandmyself (17 January 2013)

Yes....?

I think feeding properly soaked sugar beet reduces the risk of colic because you're getting more water into them.


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## FairyLights (17 January 2013)

Apparently they think it ferments in the gut.


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## lachlanandmarcus (17 January 2013)

Properly soaked ( and not left so long in summer it ferments) sugarbeet should be fine if fed to healthy horses with no history of choke etc. If not soaked properly or fed to an oldie to put on weight who choked on it would cause issues. And of course if they are fed dry beet by mistake or break into the feedstore it could be disastrous.

Sugarbeet is a feedstuff that does require a little bit of care and preparation and I suspect thats where the issue comes with ignorance or carelessness. 

However perhaps there is a wider issue, but I would be surprised.


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## lachlanandmarcus (17 January 2013)

Horsesforever1 said:



			Apparently they think it ferments in the gut.
		
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Thats interesting, as fermentation would you would think be fuelled by sugars and despite its name sugarbeet is beet with pretty much all the sugar removed. will have to read more on this.


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## be positive (17 January 2013)

I am hoping it helps prevent colic, my horse which is on total box rest, is not drinking at the moment, he is getting almost all his fluids from feed mainly soaked sugar beet and speedibeet, I thought it helped keep fluid in the hindgut, thus protecting from impaction.


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## TGM (17 January 2013)

I saw this article also, and it reinforced what I felt about reduced turnout increasing the risk of colic (study indicated that horses that have recently been stabled for significantly longer periods than normal seem to be 6 times more at risk of large colon torsion colic).

However, I found the bit about the increased risk from sugarbeet rather ambiguous.  It did specifically say that it was thought that it was due to the fact that it was "a carbohydrate that ferments rapidly in the colon".  Now, molassed sugarbeet is very high in simple carbohydrates, usually being at least 20% sugar.  However, unmolassed beet is only 5% sugar.  So would be interested to see a more detailed breakdown of colics based on whether the beet fed was unmolassed or not (and whether it was felt that the beet had been properly soaked as well).


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## FairyLights (17 January 2013)

Interersting TGM re molasses. Its found in all kinds of feeds nowadays Alpha A mixes etc. My old horse books of yesteryear say not to feed it at all as its used as a "disguise" for poor quality grains or just to get thwem to eat when they are not hungry [child with a bag of sweets sort of thing]. Sugar addiction. Not good.


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## sammy07780 (18 January 2013)

I have been using sugar beet for years (unmolassed speedibeet) and had a look on the British Horse Feeds facebook page (makers of Speedi-Beet) - this is what they said about the article:

 Whilst the article was very instructive and offered good practical solutions in terms of management, it seems peculiar that one feedstuff  sugar beet pulp  was picked out as a causative factor in colon torsion.
The statement that feeding it, and other concentrates high in carbohydrate, has the potential to cause an imbalance in gut bacteria is misleading. Firstly it doesnt differentiate the carbohydrates  as both starch and fibre are carbohydrates - and secondly it doesnt differentiate between molassed and unmolassed beet. 
Sugar beet fibre has a profile similar to grass and its fermentation characters are likewise similar, and this will be due to fermentation by the same bacteria as those utilising grass. The only difference is the low levels of lactic acid (implicated as a trigger for laminitis) from beet fibre fermentation.
If the beet is molassed with typically 15% sugar then there may well be changes in the fermentation pattern and these may disrupt the hindgut microflora, as would overloading the gut with starch.
Another factor involved may well be the characteristic of the beet pellet/shred. The patented process used by British Horse Feeds means that the flake is completely and evenly soaked in ten minutes. With standard beet pellets a minimum of 24 hours is required and the core of the pellet may still be compacted. Speedi-Beet also has a greater Water Holding Capacity than other beet products, providing more gut bulking.
We recognise that feed can be a factor in colic and that continuous bulking of the gut is important. This is one of the major reasons that we developed Speedi-Beet. Speedi-Beet allows less dependency on starchy feeds, maintains gut bulk, provides an optimum fermentation profile and does not disrupt hindgut microflora. In fact research has shown that beet fibre actually promotes those microbes that ferment the fibre types found in grass.
Speedi-Beet is widely and safely fed not only in the UK but worldwide (27 countries) it is endorsed by the Laminitis Trust by the respected Scientific Committee and in 2008 won a Queens Award for Innovation of which we are all most proud of.
We cannot answer for other beets, but our assured sourced raw material is bespoke to ourselves with exacting analytical properties, one of which being Un-Molassed (low sugar) It is then cooked using our unique patented process. Speedi-Beet has been designed to optimise gut function, not to disrupt it.

It has certainly put my mind at rest


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## lachlanandmarcus (18 January 2013)

Thanks for posting that Sammy, it kind of matches up with what we suspected, that the fast fibres and speediest type products really shouldn't represent any greater colic risk. In fact I would say it has helped by big chap avoid his previously regular colic in winter now he has fast fibre mixed to a very sloppy consistency : previously I struggled to get him to drink at all in cold weather so I am sure it is beneficial.

Obviously sugar beet (unprocessed) if not correctly prepared could well be a risk.


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## irishdraft (18 January 2013)

I was wondering about the sugar beet question on this article as well, does it mean all sugar beet or molassed, wasnt clear and a bit concerning. I feed all my horses a fair bit of sugar beet, good scoop a day over the winter only, unmolassed soak 24 hrs pellets, now im slightly worried, although they are out 24/7 and really only have sugarbeet, few nuts and ad lib hay or grass as their main diet. I was under the impression that unmolassed sugar beet was a healthy fibre rich food.


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## lachlanandmarcus (18 January 2013)

irishdraft said:



			I was wondering about the sugar beet question on this article as well, does it mean all sugar beet or molassed, wasnt clear and a bit concerning. I feed all my horses a fair bit of sugar beet, good scoop a day over the winter only, unmolassed soak 24 hrs pellets, now im slightly worried, although they are out 24/7 and really only have sugarbeet, few nuts and ad lib hay or grass as their main diet. I was under the impression that unmolassed sugar beet was a healthy fibre rich food.
		
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It is as far as any of us on here can work out, we are wondering if they mean molasses beet or maybe there is an issue with the shreds (ie not processed like speediest or fast fibre). I think H&h and the articles authors need to clarify this!


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## soulfull (19 January 2013)

my biggest concern about this article is that people will stop feeding it and a good few horses will not get enough fluid intake.  personally I see not enough fluids in very cold weather as a major risk factor in colic. 
I have several times seen horses coming in from the field with very mild colic symptoms be encouraged to drink warm/tepid water and 30 mins later they were fine.

IMHO Put that together with  horses being stabled 24/7 and you have a recipe for disaster


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## Lucinda (19 January 2013)

Well said soullful, I couldn't agree with you more.


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## Goldenstar (19 January 2013)

I felt it was a very sloppy article no attempt to explain the difference beween unmolassed and molassed sugar beet, the difference between something 5% and 20% carb is enormous .
Frankly it makes me worry about some of these articles, really to make a Judgement you would need to know how big was the group of horses used in the research, what work they where doing how they where managed .
Like other posters have said I would really worry that the article would cause people to withdraw sugar beet just a time when the fact it gets water down horses so important.


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## Captainmouse (19 January 2013)

Following my previous post in the other thread, I was advised NOT to feed sugar beet following surgery, by the vets at royal vet.

It is classed as sheep feed. And to be honest I have never fed it to any of mine since.


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## Nicnac (19 January 2013)

It DID cause colic in my mare about 25 years ago.  Why - because she escaped overnight and managed to down a large trug of sugarbeet which had been soaking for around 4-6 hours (this was old fashioned stuff that needed to soak for a good 12 hours).  

She survived without an op thanks to my wonderful vet at that time.  I have never used sugarbeet since though for purely psychological reasons


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## canteron (19 January 2013)

Mallee1989 said:



			I've never fed sugarbeet but I think it is unfair to name a particular feed to cause colic.  

There are plenty of feeds that can lead to colic if fed incorrectly, for example:

Excessive alfalfa in the diet can form enteroliths (intestinal stones), on the other hand alfalfa is an excellent protein source for horses, so although alfalfa in excess is linked to colic, alfalfa fed appropriately benefits horses.

Excess concentrates (corn/oats/barley/pelleted feed/molasses) can upset the gut bacterial balance and cause colic.

I think if we want to get serious about feed related colic then we need to get serious about getting our horses back to a more natural way of life, there are so many conditions our horses suffer from that are related to how we feed them and unfortunately I think there are many feed companies that are either more interested in filling their pockets with our money or really don't understand or want to understand what is best for our horses.  A while back I read separate articles one about an FEI australian dressage horse and the other about a FEI New Zealand dressage horse and how the owners were mourning their deaths, both of these horses had foundered and in one article it referred to the long battle the owners had had with the horse having chronic laminitis, both of these horses were sponsored by feed companies and sadly I don't think anyone had told them that their horses feed was killing them, it is one thing for a pony on pasture to founder but another for an elite performance horse locked up in a stable with no pasture and all their feed carefully controlled to founder.

I just find it frustrating that the advancements in nutrition over the last 20 years haven't correlated in our horses having less problems. There are feed companies that promote advancements in micronisation which enables us to feed more of their product to our horses, my question is why? Why do we need to feed more? I know promoting adlib roughage doesn't make anyone money but it makes our horses healthier.  

Colic is obviously a huge problem in horses but further to this we have over 90% of performance horses with ulcers and we have horses getting laminitis or tying up because they are fed too much concentrates.  

Apologies for my rant, clearly I am passionate about feeding horses!! So to get back on point, I think if we fed everything responsibly we would be able to fix a lot of problems and our horses would be feeling a lot better!
		
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No apologies needed for the rant, I too scratch my head why even quite sane and kind people think it is unkind to leave horses out 24/7 - my theory is that unless they are seen to be busy they don't think they are looking after their horses properly?

It makes sense to me that horses are designed to move fairly continuously and restricting movement has all too obvious problems.

The sugar beet information is really interesting.  I feed it in Winter, to keep the moisture content of the food up and to make the food palatable (I have to hide pergolide for one of them, so palatability is important) but have always wondered whether it was a sensible food or not so am pleased that this thread is giving me more good information.

As a matter of interest, do Quik Beet and Speedi Beet have the same nutritional profile?  The feed merchant had run out of Speedi Beet, so am using Quik Beet so would love to know whether anyone has any preference and the reason for the preference.


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