Conference noted::equitation

    Becky,
    
    >I'm  also feeding bran mashes everyday, and I'm afraid to wean her off
    >of it but I don't think this is what is causing the dryness. I have
    >read that bran every day may not be good, so I probably should cut back
    >on that. She is drinking plenty of water 
    
    It's certainly possible that the bran mash is contributing to the dry
    manure. It does soak up *LOTS* of water. 
    
    If her manure is dry, she's obviusly *not* drinking enough water for
    what she's eating. You didn't mention her age or what kind of forage
    she's getting. An EQUUS article I read last year or the year before
    said that some older horses lose the ability to regulate their drinking
    and have to have their water intake carefully monitored to prevent
    impaction colics from dry manure.
    
    Of course, pastured horses get plain ole grass and their manure will
    typically be darker and softer than a stabled horse's manure. So,
    more time at pasture is one option. I remember when Big Ben coliced
    twice in the same year, Ian Millar got one of those grass growing
    things you see advertised in horse magazines so Big Ben could get more
    fresh grass without being turned out. 
    
    Another thing they did for Big Ben was to monitor his water to make
    sure he was drinking enough water. I think they had a certain number of
    buckets he was supposed to drink each day. Whatever he didn't drink was
    mixed into his feed. Must have been pretty soupy!
    
    You could do something similar and mix water with the oats and trotter. 
    When we used to breed, I did something even more elaborate for broodmares. 
    Get some water boiling and then add the oats and/or trotter. Cover it
    and simmer for a few minutes and then let it stand for 10 minutes or so 
    to cool. In my quick and dirty method, I left out the simmering and just 
    mixed the feed into boiling water and covered it. By the time, I got my
    barn shoes and coat on, went to the barn and fed it, the mix was cool 
    enough and most of the water had been soaked up.
    
    I find that timothy hay produces fairly dry manure even if a horse is
    drinking well. A different kind of hay might stimulate drinking or
    absorb less water in the gut. One type of hay that seems to have that 
    effect on our horses is a mix of 75% orchard grass and 25% alfalfa. 
    Orchard grass is not as "stemmy" or as coarse as timothy so that may
    have some effect. However, I think most of the effect comes from the little
    bit of alfalfa in the mix. We've had other mixed hays that had orchard
    grass without the alfalfa. Those mixes didn't seem to have the
    "laxative" effect of the orchard grass and alfalfa combo. I have carefully
    used the words "seem" and "seemed" in mentioning this because I've no
    evidence other than my own observations. Reality may be somewhat
    different. ;-) However, if you can find a hay that has no timothy and
    a little alfalfa, try a few bales and see if it helps.
    
    John

    Thanks John,
    
    	I may try feeding her oats/trotter moistened, that may work as I'm
    giving her the baking soda and she will not eat that dry. Also as an
    experiment I gave her some alfalfa pellets as I have some that I give
    my sheep. Her manure actually seemed better, but you are probably right
    about the bran, I think I should take her off of it but maybe
    gradually(?) The hay I'm feeding is timothy/grassy, looks great but
    maybe it is contributing to dryness. Btw... she is 10 years old.
    I do not have much pasture and what I did have is pretty spent after
    this dry summer, it definately needs a rest. 
    
    Becky

    Re Timothy hay...
    
    I didn't mean that the timothy had to be "bad" or "late" or anything
    like that. What I was getting at is that timothy is a "stalky" type of
    grass; it has a long tall stalk and a rather large head with a few 
    smallish leaves near the head. Wheat(which is just another kind of
    grass!) is the same way. 
    
    Orchard grass and many other types of grass are basically "blade"
    grasses; they have more leaf area than stem compared to timothy.
    
    That's the kind of difference, I was thinking might have an effect on
    manure moisture. Maybe the stalk absorbs more moisture than leafy
    parts of the grass because it's coarser and more fibrous. If that's
    true, then a stalky stemmy grass like timothy might produce drier
    manure than a blade type of grass. I dunno though; I'm just guessing 
    based on what I've seen.

    From what I've read, Orchard Grass has considerably more nutritional 
    value per pound than Timothy as well.
    
    Sharon

    
    	Hi, Just thought I'd follow this up, in case anyone was wondering
    I did ask my vet about continuing to feed bran mash every day. I have
    cut the amout of bran down to 1 cup (measured dry) a day. He said that 
    1 cup of bran a day wouldn't hurt her and she could have that much every 
    day for the rest of her life. So, I feed her the bran mash at her night 
    feeding along with trotter and I've added alfalfa pellets to her diet and a
    small amount of sweetened crimped oats. I'm also giving electrolytes
    and baking soda (suppose to reduce acid) I think this is making her
    drink more water too.
    
    	The bottom line is she seems to be doing very well now and the
    manure is not as dry as it was this fall. Keeping my fingers crossed
    for continued good health!
    
    	Becky