15/06/2025
Friday focusโฆ.soaking mashes / beets in the warm weather!
A quick focus this week as I had 2 days doing essential CPD at the BETA Feed Conference, so lots of my own work to catch up on!
Something I see very regularly when I am out and about is mashes being soaked in bulk. Iโm not talking about bulk for feeding a few horses for the day, I mean the mash / beet pulp being soaked in bulk for 1 horse, so a few days worth at a time.
Mashes and beet pulps sour quickly, particularly in warm weather which we are currently having here in the U.K. The souring / fermenting of mashes can produce moulds, increase the risk of digestive upset and it makes it very unpalatable for your horse, so they will not be getting their essential nutrients if they are not eating all of their feeds; assuming you feed a balancer, vitamin and mineral supplement or balanced compound feed.
Souring beet pulps and mashes will have a vinegar type odour to them, they can be slimy and the colour will be different to when they are freshly soaked.
To ensure you are feeding fresh, either get a quick soaking mash or beet pulp that you can soak directly before feeding, or at the most, soak in the morning for use at night or overnight for use in the morning. Soaking out of direct sunlight and preferably somewhere cool will help keep your mashes fresh.
My feed room is wooden, so not very cool at all in the heat, so I soak my mashes for no more than 12 hours. If it is really warm, I have been known to take unsoaked mash and the correct quantity of water out with me for the day and just before I leave my last client, I add the water, so it can soak on the way homeโฆsad, know! Just make sure you have a tightly fitting lid on your beet container if you wish to do this!!