Feeding bran - opinions please?

[Sooty]

Hi all
I keep my mare at a yard where the food is included in the cost of livery. I have asked that she is fed Alpha-A and pony nuts plus ad-lib hay and plenty of turn-out (she's in light work). Hard feed gradually being reduced as the spring grass comes through.

However, I have recently noticed that a half scoop of bran is being added to each feed. Whilst I'm aware of the traditional 'bran mash' given weekly I don't know what (if any) benefit this may provide on a daily basis. I was under the impression that the practive of giving a weekly mash was to encourage emptying out of the bowels and had somewhat fallen out of favour nowadays - is this also true of feeding bran in general?

I don't want to rock the boat if it's not doing any harm. yo is very experienced but very traditional in her methods - but she is very good with the horses and I wouldn't want to make an issue of it and risk upsetting her.

Advice please?

[jUmPingIsLifE]

fed excessivly bran is actually not good for horses at all. expecailly in younger horses. it messes up the calcium-phosperous ratio and the bones become weak (or something like that) and i that it it can actually help a horse get binded up :eek:

i have read up on it- if you google search bran you will find a lot of websites that talk about the myths about it included the fact it acts like a laxitive. also it has nothing in it the horse needs nutrient wise and really has no purpose except that some horses like the mash. tahoe loves it so i give him a bran once every couple weeks or so.

here is a good article on it http://www.equisearch.com/care/nutrition/eqbranmash497/

[Gemma16]

yes Bran is high is phospherous when fed in large amounts 'can' upset the calcium balance and has caused 'big head' disease in some horses. BUT I used to feed my old pony on it for years, like 25 of his 28 and it did him not harm at all.

I think its hard to get good quality bran these days, it tends to be like dust.

The amounts your horse is getting i doubt it would do any harm. If you are unsure just ask your YO what it is for?

[clipclop]

At one time I would never have thought about adding bran to my feeds as it does mess up the "calcium-phosperous ratio". But on veterinary advice I was told to add a cup to my horses feed for digestive purposes.

Now to balance to "calcium-phosperous ratio" whn feeding bran you should also feed limestone flour. I don't however firstly because my horse won't eat it and it isn't very palatable and secondly because my horses diet is high in Alpha A which is also high in calcium I figure the bran and the Alpha A should balance the "Calcium Phosphorus ratio with adding anything else.

[galadriel]

The weekly mash may be more likely to empty out the bowels simply because it's an unusual kind of feed, which means that the horse isn't set up to digest it, so is mildly ill in response. However, if fed daily, that's not a problem; it's something the horse is used to and is simply another element of the diet.

It's possible that something else in your horse's diet is high in calcium, which is why she's adding the bran to counterbalance. Is "Alfa A" an alfalfa product? Alfalfa tends to have high calcium levels, and traditionally bran makes a good counterbalance to alfalfa.

I was feeding bran daily this winter to add bulk/fiber and also to soak up warm water. I've since switched to beet pulp, which does a much better job of soaking up the water. But either beet pulp or bran can be a source of bulk in the meal (make the horse think he's getting more) and just some additional fiber to chew on.

[Bebe]

Most bran made these days is low in nutritional value anyway, so considering that even good quality bran isn't very nutritious from a horses point of view it tends to do no more than bulk out the feed and provide phosphorous.

It's not a feed I'd choose to give. If it's felt that your horse is lacking in fibre (which is why some people give it) then I'd ask for sugar beet or extra chaff to be used instead. If the bran is being given to counteract high calcium levels in the feed sugarbeet will do the same job.

[Jessey]

I've fed bran all this winter with no ill effects, I used it for our old chap as his digestive system is not as effective as it used to be and the bran bulked the feed and helps slow the movement throught the gut so he could get more nutrients out of the other feeds mixed with it.
Alfa A (short choped alfalfa) is perfect for balancing the high phosphorous in bran, using this combination should mean there would be no imbalance.
Years ago the lady who taught me to ride would always include bran in the spring to help keep the gut function normal, otherwise her horses would sometimes get the runs a bit with the rich spring grass.
I would ask the YO why she uses it, I'm sure there will be a really simple explaination.

J

[colourful cob]

Yes, Alfa A is made from alfalfa galadriel. I'm fairly old fashioned in horse care, Potty has about 1/2 scoop oats, regular chaff, and a cup of bran. The only 'new' things he has are conditioning cubes (for a cob he drops weight easily) and alfa a, because of the calcium content. However, all of my horses have ALWAYS been fed on bran, and it has never damaged any of them, so long as its fed in a sensible quantity and is fairly good quality. Half a scoop wont damage your horse.

[Waikato Valuta]

I feed my horse bran, and he's never had a problem. Although i only feed it every now and again, mixed with mollasus and carrots. YUM!!!

[chev]

It's not just the poor calcium : phosphorous ratio that causes problems - it's also the fact that bran contains phytin, which stops the horse absorbing what calcium there is in the diet. Youngstock, broodmares and lactating mares should not be fed bran - it interferes with the proccess of bone formation and can cause problems very quickly with young foals especially.

Bran used to contain a fair amount of flour, which had some nutritional use - but because modern proccessing methods remove nearly all of this now it's really pretty worthless as a feed. It does have a laxative effect, so it is useful in cases where the horse needs it's gut clearing - the onset of laminitis, or toxicity cases - but generally, it causes more harm than good. It does contain a moderate amount of energy, but also a lot of low quality and largely indigestible protein.

It irritates the gut (hence the laxative effect) which isn't great if you want your horse to gain maximum benefit from its feed and can actually seriously disrupt the digestion as it kills off or incapacitates a lot of the essential micro-organisms and beneficial bacteria in the gut, which can take up to a fortnight to recover. Thus you can see the problems of a weekly bran mash...

Weekly bran mashes were traditionally given when a horse worked hard all week, probably hunted on Saturday and then had a day off. The mash basically cleared the system out so that the risk of tying up was lessened on the rest day - today's bran is very different nutritionally, and we know more about the less desirable effects that it has on a horse, so it has no real value as a feedstuff these days at all. Bran mashes were considered mild and easily digestible - in fact, the opposite is true.

Good, nutritionally balanced alternatives to bran include beet pulp and chaff (short cut chop or grass pellets).

[H & Bailey]

I was always taught that bran wetted-ie a bran mash is for a horse that is poorly or needs a laxative type feed.
however bran fed dry promotes a binding effect therefore if your horse has a runny tummy it will make the droppings more solid.
I always give rose a scoop of bran in her feed as she has got a dodgy tummy due to past neglect and damage.I have to keep an eye on her when she goes onto grass and usually have to up the bran to keep her 'normal'as i feed it along with alpha a as recommended by the vet.
with reference to the question on why your yard owner has started to add it now,its probably so as the grass comes through your horse doesnt get a runny tummy ,but personally i would only feed it to an animal with past history of loose dropping.Why not ask her to see what she says?

[easyhorsecare]

I feed bran daily to one of my elderly ponies, on my vets advice, who also has suffered with laminitus in the past, for many years now and he is still going strong at the age of 35!!!

I would enquire on the reason why your horse is being fed bran though.
Be polite and curious. After all it is your horse and should be made aware of any changes in his diet.

All the best

Tracy

http://www.easyhorsecare.com

[Sooty]

Thank you so much for your comments and advice. I will definitely ask the yo why she is feeding it. But from what a couple of you have said it definitely sounds like the aviodance of 'runny tummy' (and if that's the case it definitely appears to be working ;) ).

I think I will ask her to add it as just a temporary measure though, as it seems to me that on balance the possible risks outweigh any real benefit. And as she's only 5/6 I guess her bones may not have finished developing yet so wouldn't want to do anything to put them at risk.

I have printed off that article, jUmPingIsLifE, and will perhaps show it to her at some point (in a very diplomatic way!)

Thanks again :)