It's that time of year when I know folks start doing a lot of mashes. I've never been much for mashes. Then today I got a SmartPak pamphlet in the mail and their vet says mashes aren't really as healthy as we once thought.
I've only had one horse that a vet had suggested he be put on a daily rice bran mash, for fat, salts and fluid. He was a hardcore X-country horse and super hard keeper even at age 6. He would run himself into exhaustion in turnout even.
So, do you give mashes? Which kind? How often? For what results? Have any good recipes?
partly cloudy2015-10-11T14:50:32Z
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I give a daily mash, as a treat after I ride. I do not hand treat this horse. But, he gets a soggy, super wet mash of beet pulp/water/stomach remedy. His favorite is papaya puree, but it is hard to come by now. Next is about 9 oz. of concentrated aloe vera juice, and now I trying a dryed clay product with trace minerals and acid inhibitors. The horse likes it quite well in his 1/2 cup beetpulp treat. Put a lot of water in the mix....before I ride than add more if needed 30 min later...after horse is ridden and cooled. He loves this, and I don't have a begging horse looking for "treats" the whole time I am with him. All told there are about 2 or 3 cups of water in this mash and it is also a good source of hydration although he normally drinks another 1/2 bucket of water afterwards/ I like a mash to warm, to hydrate, to bond supplements to feed.
I keep bran on hand for incidences when I suspect colic. My husband's mare was kind of off her feed earlier in the week, and got a mash two days in a row (she's fine now). For those cases, I just use bran, salt and warm water. For a treat, say for Christmas or something, I'll give them mashes made of bran, salt and sliced carrots or apples. That's about the extent of my mash use.
I have never ever used mashes. I think they may be unhealthy and in extreme cases I have known them to cause fatalities. I have never seen the benefit. Having said that, I have been known to give a chilled horse warm cooked oat bran mash to begin to warm them from the inside. Maybe twice or three times in 50 years.