Rice bran

[hopepitre]

I recently was giving many bags of Rice bran powder, I usually use pellets. Since powder free good idea to use. But how much do I use per 100lbs of horse?- my mustang is about 1,000lbs

[Michelle Clarke]

Be careful with the rice bran...it's starch form is one that is not good for our easy keeping horses; just as corn and sorgum is not good. However, grains such as oats and barley are starches that are more usable to them and friendlier to their systems.

Rice bran also has arsenic in it, though the exact amount is not yet known - as far as I know.

Oh...and welcome to the Board!!!

[barbhorses]

wow... didn't know that rice bran has arsenic in it! I feed stabilized rice bran to Victoria.

Looked up rice bran and found this:

www.iscanmyfood.com/hd/index.php?t=Rice+bran

[Michelle Clarke]

Thanks for posting that...I had also forgotten the gamma-oryzanol, which is a natural occuring "steriod" for muscle mass. I remember that when I was working with a feed company on a formula for the easy keeper type horses, that some of my mares got really aggressive and even the geldings seemed to not be as settled together. I also notice the stallions seemed more on edge. Once I found out they were adding rice bran and I talked to a natural nutritionalist in regards to the gamma-oryzanol, she told me how that was most likely the cause of the increase of bad behavior.

Once the horses were off that feed, things went back to normal on all fronts. I've had some other clients have good results taking bossy, cranky horses off of the rice bran and having good results, especially pissy type mares.

It does not affect all horses the same but something to consider.

[barbhorses]

I haven't noticed that Victoria is more grumpy on rice bran. She seems to be happy and gets all of the benefits that rice bran has to offer and apparently the bad parts of it do not seem to affect her. I was feeding her about a pound of rice bran a day because she is pregnant, but I am cutting that in half as she has turned into a real porker! lol

I walked up to her stall on a rainy day and when she turned to look at me (I was behind her) I noticed a fat roll on her neck where her blanket was pushing! LOL Well, like I said, I am a fledgling breeder and I guess I got carried away with trying to make sure she gets all the calories she needs! The last thing that will happen is for her to become skinny while she is pregnant and while she is nursing. At the same time, I need to be sure that she doesn't get too fat! I hope I get some land sometime this year down here in SoCal so I can start up my breeding program. I found a jet black Sulphur stud that is totally unrelated to any of the major bloodlines in the breed. I am waiting for photos of him. His parents both came from the 2001 gather which was the last great gather of the Spanish horses on the North East side of Mountain Home Peak. I think that they took most of the Spanish horses off at that round up as it is hard to find a Spanish type Sulphur coming out of the wild these days! Both of his parents are jet black which is awesome as the breeder told me that neither parent has tawny colored ears so they aren't hiding any dun factor! It is so VERY HARD to come by a quality Spanish type Sulphur that doesn't have stripes! Don't get me wrong, I love the intense dun factor that the Sulphurs have, but I have also always wanted a pure jet black and copper bay Sulphur that is very typey. So, if this stud turns out to be everything that I am hoping he is, then I just might be able to make one dream come true! I was told that he is a solid black that doesn't turn colors in the summer. Not one spec of white! *does a little dance*

My sister plans on keeping the foal from Victoria and picked out his name already (we are assuming it is a stud colt as Victoria carries the foal rather low and Pueblo has yet to produce a filly... although this foal will be his third foal. So, not much of a production record!). She named him Ezio Auditore de España Antigua. Which, the name Ezio Auditore is after an Italian nobleman that randomly disappeared from history. Ubisoft created a game series called Assassin's Creed which is based on the Templars and Assassins. They use real historical characters in the game and took over 300,000 photos of Italian villages and cities to create the landscape of the game. Ezio means eagle. So, roughly translated, his name means Eagle of Old Spain. Which I find amusing as Ezio Auditore is more of an Italian name... lol de España Antigua is my ranch name. I need to register my brand design with the name.

Anyways, enough of my rambling on and on about my excitement for the future!

[Michelle Clarke]

Fun stuff for sure...don't be concerned with putting on weight until the last trimester. Up until then the mares should carry normal body condition. I start feeding out my mares slowly as they begin their last tri; it is actually not until right after they foal when calories jump way up during milk production.

Heavy mares have more difficulty foaling. Mine stay out in the Wild Bunch on 75 acres until the last tri. This keeps them in shape too. I begin to add alfalfa to their diet and about three weeks before they are due, I begin bumping grain up. They are out on 30 acres all day and in large stalls/pens at night so they can chill out and relax. I am also careful about not trimming their feet the last month, as their balance has changed and the foal is really growing, so I don't want to change anything.

I am getting excited about baby time coming up! A few long awaited foals on the way, so I know how you feel. Interesting in regards to the black stud, share some picts when you get them.

[barbhorses]

Ah ok! For some reason I thought that I should feed her a bit more because she is preggers... She isn't getting grain. She is on Total Equine Supplement (vitamins and minerals with a natural dewormer), noni (naturally helps boost immunity), Smart Gut (she had ulcers this year. This one has a lot of probiotics and enzymes to naturally help the stomach. She seems comfortable now, so it is working.), and a scoop of psyllium powder (this helps her not have diarrhea. Never had to have her on psyllium every day before. This happened when she was moved to the desert). The supplements are accompanied with timothy/alfalfa pellets and then the rice bran. I put some water in it to make the rice bran into a creamy consistency and also this prevents any of the powder from the supplements taking off in the breeze. Experienced breeders, do you think I am over doing it or am I on target and should just decrease her rice bran?

I should be getting some photos of this stud on Monday. Really hoping that this stud is a gorgeous Spanish stallion! If he is off type then I will be really disappointed!