This message is from: Frederick J. Pack [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Cross posted from Horse Sense. I just learned something important.
Fred
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Fred and Lois Pack
Pack's Peak Stables
Wilkeson, Washington 98396
http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/3158
-Original Message-
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Jessica Jahiel
Sent: Wednesday, November 27, 2002 1:27 PM
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: [HORSE-SENSE:3996] cattle feed bad for horses?
From: Erica
Subject: cattle feed bad for horses?
Dear Jessica, the other day I was at the feed mill with my trainer. She
has a hot temper and sometimes it can be embarrassing to be with her.
Well, this was one of those days. She got totally furious with the mill
owner and yelled at him just because he ran a cattle feed mix through
right before her horse feed mix. She said she wouldn't touch the feed
and
he should give it to the cattle guy and he had to mix hers all over
again.
I think she was mad because the cattle owner's feed got mixed first and
she thinks horses are more important? I think they are too, but I don't
know about being rude and yelling at somebody for no reason.
Last night at supper I asked my Dad about it, he knows the guy who owns
the mill. He said he thought my trainer acted like a b***h and she
thinks
she's better than the cattle owner but she isn't. He said she's just a
typical horsey snob and it's the guy's feed mill and he can do his work
in
whatever order he wants.
Okay, so then I went to the barn for my lesson and somebody was talking
about the feed thing and said it was a good thing my trainer was there
to
see it, because the cattle feed would have poisoned the horse feed if
she
let them mix her feed right after the cattle feed. Now I'm totally
confused. Why would anybody put poison in cattle feed? I happen to know
that these are BEEF cattle for people to EAT, so there's no way anybody
would poison them. I don't get it. Please help me understand. I think
adults are all crazy. Erica
Hi Erica - nope, sorry, not all adults are crazy. Some of us are, but
not
all. Your trainer was right to be angry, and the person at your barn who
said that the feed would have poisoned the horses was right, too. Your
trainer knew that, and that's why she was so angry. The feed mill owner
SHOULD have known that, too.
Nobody is poisoning beef cattle, but cattle feed often has something
called
Rumensin added to it. Beef cattle feed has lots of ingredients added
to
it - the idea is to get as much weight on those cattle as possible
before
they are sold for beef.
Now, here's why there was a problem at the feed mill: Rumensin may be
just
fine for beef cattle, but it's TOXIC TO HORSES. It damages their heart
muscles, and horses that eat feed containing Rumensin will die from
heart
failure - or will be permanently and badly damaged.
Feed producers KNOW this - it's why you will never find Rumensin in any
feed designed for horses. Feed mill owners and operators know this too,
because they NEED to know it. At a feed mill, custom mixes of grains,
additives, molasses, etc. are prepared to order, and since the mixes are
put through the same hoppers, it matters very much indeed which order is
processed first. If the horse feed is processed first, then the cattle
feed
with Rumensin, the horses will be fine, and the cattle will be fine. If
the
cattle feed is processed first, then the horse feed, some of the
Rumensin
can end up in the horse feed - and then NOBODY will be fine, not the
horses, not the horses' owners, not the trainer, and not the feed mill
owner.
So although your trainer was rude, she had every reason to be upset and
angry. Tell your Dad the reasons for not mixing cattle feed additives
into
horse feed - I bet he'll change his mind about your trainer's behaviour.
And tell every horse-owner you know not to feed their horses cattle
feed,
not to give their horses handfuls of cattle feed as a treat, and not to
turn their horses out with cattle for group feeding - unless they KNOW
exactly what is in the cattle feed, and are absolutely sure that there
is
no Rumensin or any other ingredient that could hurt their horses.
Jessica
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