The team at EQUIGLO – the home of Quick Soak 10 MINUTE BEET – explains why soaked unmolassed sugar beet, a great fibre feed, is perfect for all horses and ponies – even those prone to laminitis.

Fibre is essential for equine health and wellbeing. It helps to promote healthy gut function, provides a great source of energy and is just what horses have evolved to eat.

Spring is a challenging time for those of you with horses and ponies prone to laminitis. You will be trying to restrict grazing on rich, plentiful grass and looking for a new feeding regime to help maintain a healthy, slim body condition.

Using a soaked fibre feed such as Equiglo Quick Soak 10 Minute Beet provides a highly digestible source of fibre. This versatile, British-grown root vegetable contains very little starch and about 5% sugar when molasses-free.

It is the perfect complementary feed to forages such as grass, hay and haylage, and can be safely fed to all horses and ponies. It is ideal for those with laminitis when given as part of a carefully balanced diet and should be fed with the appropriate low-WSC (low-sugar and fructan) forage.

Equiglo Quick Soak 10 Minute Beet is also a great choice as a partial hay replacer for older equines with poor dentition and for those that tend to be fizzy. Low levels of sugar and starch ensure a relatively slow release of energy while avoiding excessive exuberance.

Horses stabled at this time of year – either because they are on box rest or on restricted grazing – will benefit from soaked sugar beet as part of a correctly balanced diet because it can help to replace missing moisture content.

So quick and easy

Sugar beet should be soaked before it is given to horses straight and, depending on how it has been processed, this can range from 10 minutes to 24 hours.

Equiglo Quick Soak 10 Minute Beet has been through a process called micronisation, which is a highly effective way of processing the beet, breaking up the fibres and allowing it to soak up water at a faster rate.

Extremely palatable – even tempting enough for poor doers – sugar beet features an excellent nutrient profile with the ability to aid rehydration, thanks to the water it absorbs during the soaking process.

How big’s a helping?

Unmolassed sugar beet can be fed in three serving sizes:

● Small – as a bucket feed dampener or a succulent, or to enhance palatability.

● Medium – as a fibre supply for sensitive horses and ponies.

● Large – as a safe supply of dietary energy for work or condition, a direct replacement for starchy, cereal-based feeds or a partial forage replacer.

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Benefits of feeding unmolassed sugar beet

• Highly palatable and versatile for all horses and ponies.

• Low in sugar and starch.

• Helps to maintain good hydration.

• Provides an excellent supply of non-heating energy for working horses and ponies.

• Provides a calm, non-heating method of condition gain for thin horses.

• Naturally supports healthy gut function.

• Rich in readily available calcium.

• Suitable for all-year-round feeding.