Bran Mash- Questions...

[bayknight]

I was going to buy a Smart Pak bran mash for my boy this Christmas... but I have some questions...

Is their anything bad when feeding a bran mash that I should be concerned about? Should I feed the bran mash as his dinner replacement?


Thanks!!! :)

[Mia412]

I guess it would depend on how sensative your boy's stomach is . . . feeding bran mash in addition to dinner wouldn't phase some of my crew one bit, but 2 of them will get sick with any sudden feed changes. How big is the mix? Could you divide it into several portions and feed a little at a time?

When I feed a mash I just soak everyone's dinner in hot water, since my crew all gets some type of pelleted feed each meal. Then we add salt, applesauce, chopped carrot or apple, peppermints . . . whatever they like to eat. No one's ever had any issues with this method, unless you count having to remove dried mash from the 3 year old's forelock and ears after a hot meal a problem! :lol:

[BramblewoodAcres]

Bran is the hard outer layer of a grain, such as oats. It has a high level of dietary fiber and is frequently used during the winter, regularly, to help keep things moving. If your horse already gets oats, the good "bugs" in his system shouldn't freak out from a little extra in his meal.

I personally would add just a small amount of the nice, warm bran mash in his regular meal instead of as a meal on it's own because bran by itself just isn't very nutritious. If you fed bran regularly, you could feed a bigger meal.

[saultgirl]

Why do you want to feed a bran mash?

[cloudyandcallie]

I've used that smartpak peppermint mash and it smells great and looks like cereal.

Now nutritionists and vets are saying don't use bran, so listen to the poster who said to just put a little of it on top of your horse's regular grain.

[Chall]

My vet once told me too bran mashes many throw off of the calcium to P.. ratio (Phospherous? Potassium? I forget now). He told me to stick to his pelleted food because the food companies have worked out the nutritional balances.
That was correct advice for someone of my low level of nutrional knowledge.
These days I'd do what the poster above did, just add hot water to his current meal and maybe add known digestables (i.e. carrots). One of my guys colics on (human prepared) Beetpulp, so that wouldn't go into his meal.

[Lilykoi]

Our horse get a bran mash every Monday night. Have been doing it for many many years.
Needless to say, many of them have lived to a ripe old age and are still working. Never had any problems and the horses seem to really love it. I don't know, maybe its fallen out of favor but don't tell the old geezers in my barn:lol::lol::lol:

[pines4equines]

I do have to say I love feeding a bran mash but I've changed my ways. I actually serve their regular dinner, add hot/warm water and about 1- 2 cups of bran. Mix well and serve. You can add diced carrots, apples and a tad of salt as well.

My horses really love a bran mash but really I can't tell you how good it makes ME feel!!! :lol:

I wrote a book called The Original Book of Horse Treats and it has tons of bran mashes in there.

[HandsomeBayFarm]

I have a book on feeding horses - cant remember the name as I am still at work - but pretty much said that feeding bran was useless.

That the result that you see - the loose stools - people mistake as "cleaning out the system" is really just such a shock to a very senistive digestive system and should be avoided.

I came from the school that every Sunday the dinner was bran mash and 1/2 regular feed. I dont do that any more.

[mybeau1999]

I wrote a book called The Original Book of Horse Treats and it has tons of bran mashes in there.

That's you?!?!? I had NO idea! That's so cool - let me tell you that I (and my horse) LOVE your book!!!

[Ritazza]

A blurb about bran mash taken right from my blog (wrote a recent post about it):

"Myth #1: Bran mash warms my horse up.
Truth: Temporarily, in the same way a mug of hot coffee warms you up. A better option is to give the horse some more hay. A byproduct of fiber fermenting in the cecum is heat - hence why we feed horses extra hay in the winter. By merely consuming extra hay, their bodies are internally heating themselves already.

Myth #2: Bran mash gets much-needed fiber into my horse.
Not really. HAY gets much-needed fiber into your horse, or haylage, or pasture, etc. If your horse is getting enough daily forage, a bran mash is of no benefit in terms of additional fiber.

Myth #3: Bran mash gets much-needed water into my horse, especially in the cold winter months.
Truth: Well, technically, yes. However, a much better option, if you really are worried about it, is to wet your horse's grain or hay. Same benefits, without destroying any healthy hindgut flora.

Myth #4: Bran mash has a laxative effect.
Absolutely no scientific evidence supporting this theory. Bran has, however, been shown to irritate the gut lining. Also, if it WERE to have a laxative effect, you'd have to feed WAY more than your horse could EVER consume. Your horse can have diarrhea the next day because you have, in effect, just killed off a bunch of his healthy host of hindgut flora. A once-weekly bran mash is a very abrupt change in a horse's diet, and those hindgut bacteria thrive on a steady, unchanging environment."

Rest of the post here: http://eventing-a-gogo.blogspot.com/2008/12/babys-first-tummyache.html. It also talks about the calcium:phosphorus ratio already mentioned here.


On Christmas, I like to put nice warm water in her dinner grain and candy canes, apples, and carrots :D

[chaltagor]

On Christmas, I like to put nice warm water in her dinner grain and candy canes, apples, and carrots :D

But that takes all the fun away from buying a packaged product and making yourself feel all warm and fuzzy for giving your horse something that will irritate his intestinal tract.

My horses get a warm meal twice a day every day in the fall and winter. I heat up the water for their beet pulp instead of using it straight from the hose. But there's no "specialness" in that. (No diarrhea either :sigh: I miss out on all the fun stuff.)

[Ritazza]

But that takes all the fun away from buying a packaged product and making yourself feel all warm and fuzzy for giving your horse something that will irritate his intestinal tract.

I know, right!

Actually I'm a hyprocrite... last year I bought one of those candy cane mashes from Smartpak to give to my horse on Christmas as a treat, and lo and behold she ate about two mouthfuls before turning her nose up at it.

She had her first ever bran mash last weekend at this new barn where it is common practice to give it once a week, and I didn't want them to give it to her but they did. Lo and behold, two hours later she's colicky...

[ThoroughbredFancy]

I gave my gelding a bran mash tonight since he had a tummy ache earlier in the day.

Usually after he colics the vet has me put him on a good watery bran mash for a day or two. He loves them anyways.

I bought him a peppermint bran mash and old timer's recipe from SmartPak for x-mas. He hasn't tried it yet though.

I give him a mash every now and again since he enjoys them. Or mix a bit with his dinner and soak it all. Never saw any harm in it.

His favorite bran mash is bran with crushed apples and peanut butter crackers. :lol:

[TheOrangeOne]

The barn where my horse lives at home is old timey, sunday bran mash to keep things moving type place. Have never seen a bran mash related intestinal upset or any actual change in the poops.

[4Martini]

I fed my horse the smartpak peppermint mash a few winters ago after another boarder gave it to him for Christmas.

He ate every piece of bran and even sucked the pepermints clean - leaving a whole bunch of white "rocks" in his feed bowl. It took me forever to figure out where the rocks in his bucket came from the next day :confused::confused::confused:

Now he gets beet pulp and alfalfa cube mashes!

[HiddenStars826]

I'd like to point out that the common bran mash ingredient seems to be wheat bran. I'm saying this because someone mentioned oats/oat bran up above, but (at least where I am) oat bran is not normal, its generally wheat bran that is used in products/sold in bulk. For some horses, differentiating between oat and wheat brans can really make a difference.

If I want to do a mash, I soak my horse's normal grain with water. He's been on hay stretcher for years, and that soaks well, so I just add hot water to that and it ends up looking like a wheat bran mash would.
A few weeks ago we gave him a cup or so of oat bran and added water to it, and he ate it right up without issues. His normal diet is largely comprised of oats. However, if this horse gets even a few cups of wheat bran, it throws him over the edge and I have a giant colic to deal with. The vets always prescribe a bran mash after a colic episode for him, and I have to explain numerous times WHY I can't do that for him. Interestingly enough, if you offer him wheat bran without anything added, he won't touch it anyway. The whole "bran mash after colic" never made sense to me anyway- "hey, this horse just had a major gastro-intestinal issue. lets solve that by adding something into the diet that the horse is totally not used to!"

It used to be a custom at an old barn to eliminate dinner grain for the horses on days where they weren't turned out or it was really cold, and instead add a bran mash. That drove me insane because the horses wouldn't get their supplements, and they almost did it to my horse a few times no matter how much I told them.

[LSM1212]

I get those SmartPak bran mashes too. This time of year I get one bag of each (Ole Timer, Candy Cane and Tropical Twist). But I break each bag down into 3 servings. I don't want to give that much in one sitting. And my horse still gets his dinner ration so it truly is just a treat. I shake out a "serving" into a small bucket and then re-seal the bag. Add hot water and a hand broken up carrot and let it sit to absorb the water and cool off a bit. When he sees the small bucket come out, he knows what it is and I have him eat it out of the bucket so his actual feed bucket doesn't get "icky". The pre-made packs are very handy for those of us that are too lazy to get the ingredients for a bran mash and make it ourselves. :D

So it truly is just a treat and he loves them. I give them probably once a week or so during this time of year (Dec-Feb). So with the 3 bags and breaking them down to 3 servings each that gives me a total of 9 servings.

And since it's just a small amount, I've had no problems. The entire packet is pretty small (22 oz) but since I break it down even more by giving 3 servings per bag, it's really pretty insignificant (7 oz per serving).

He likes it and I like giving it to him. His face is priceless. :D

[KnKShowmom]

Long ago, in a different barn, we used to give bran mashes when either the horses had been at a show all day and might not have had their normal intake of water. Would also do it on very, very cold days when they might not be drinking as much either. Would cut their grain by 1/2, add bran, hot water, carrots, and apples and the horses loved it. Never any colic, just messy feed tubs.

[Lilykoi]

The barn where my horse lives at home is old timey, sunday bran mash to keep things moving type place. Have never seen a bran mash related intestinal upset or any actual change in the poops.

What she said:)

[chaltagor]

The barn where my horse lives at home is old timey, sunday bran mash to keep things moving type place. Have never seen a bran mash related intestinal upset or any actual change in the poops.

This type of reasoning is why there is a cheapo $9 box fan in the main barn at my place in every stall. They've never had them short out and catch fire, why should they use anything else? You point out all the barn fires started by them, doesn't matter as they've never had a problem.

[Ritazza]

This type of reasoning is why there is a cheapo $9 box fan in the main barn at my place in every stall. They've never had them short out and catch fire, why should they use anything else? You point out all the barn fires started by them, doesn't matter as they've never had a problem.


Can I get an AMEN! :yes:

[wateryglen]

Oh for cryin' out loud!!! :mad: It's just a treat!!! It can't hurt them (everything in moderation! Not daily! Every once in a while!) and they love them and it provides some fiber! How is this bad at all!!! Forget phosphorous! One meal once a week ain't gonna hurt!!! Forget irritation! :rolleyes: No more than any other fiber for cripes sakes!!! Sheeeesh. Let the horsie have his special num-num! Makes horse & owner feel good.

But I gotta admit - a FLAVORED bran mash sounds very special AND expensive. Go for the big ole bag from the feedstore that lasts forever and lets you play with recipes for fun....add this or that. Try some brown sugar and apples! Bananas! Carrots! Oils, few drops of flavorings...mine LOVE rum flavoring & vanilla & ......
OH and MY horses LOVE oatmeal!!! LOVE it! :yes::yes::yes: Coupla cups ain't gonna hurt a thing. :winkgrin:

[TheOrangeOne]

I'd say 20 or so years of a barn of 90 horses is a better sample for me to determine food safety than a couple people on the internet.

[stuge]

I know that several of the top vet schools are still recommending bran mash after colic surgery. A friend of mine's mare had surgery this past summer and they told her to replace a regular feeding twice a week for I don't know how long. Don't shoot me, I'm just the messenger.

[ThoroughbredFancy]

After my horse is colicky the vet always recommends mashes for the next 1-2 days.

[luv2jump]

Bran mashes are enjoyed by my horses and my dogs ( I slop it all over !!! ) Have for years and years. I am just careful with the insulin resistant ones as it is a bit high in sugar.
The 50 lb. bag will last and bran mash poultices with epsom salts and iodine are great for sole abscesses.
Nothing more satisfying that seeing bran mash encrusted muzzles on Xmas day and listening to them happily slurp them down.
Luv 2 Jump