It is also important to make sure that in foal mares are fed a low sugar and starch diet. Elderly mares seem to be more likely to produce a foal which goes on to develop OCD. This could be due to increased rations of grain based feed during pregnancy or the impact of endocrine changes due to old age. Horses have evolved into largest fastest land creature for its size and this is due to their amazing biomechanics. The horses’ digestive system has adapted and this plays a vital role in the success and speed of the equine athlete. Meta Slim Complete claims to specifically target estrogen, one of the most important hormones in the female body. Here’s how the company describes the importance of estrogen: Protein is essential for every organ of the horse and not least for supporting, repairing and building muscles. It is also needed for hooves, bones and even coat. By law, the total protein, also called Crude Protein (C.P.) has to be declared on feed bags, but this figure is only part of the equation. Protein can be good or bad quality, and can be digestible or indigestible. Making the most of forage type feeds helps. Increase the Simple System Ltd feeds and the horse will need less hay. Lower feed value feeds are:

Fiber: Meta Slim Complete contains 2g of dietary fiber or around 7% of your DV. Fiber helps push waste out of your body, making it easy to maintain digestive regularity. Many experts recommend taking a fiber supplement for various benefits. Once soaked up the feed looks enormous so my friend told me not to feed it as it would be too much for the horse’s stomach. Was she right? Starch from corn and barley, for instance, is digested in the stomach, where microbes convert the starch to acid. This means that the stomach will soon be left empty but acidic, and this in turn can increase the risk of gastric ulcers. Excess starch will move to the hindgut, where microbial fermentation causes acid. This can cause a higher risk of colic and laminitis. Another suggestion is to limit protein to 8-10% but amino acids are essential. Branch-chain amino acids are ideal and can be found in beet pulp, dried Brewers’ Yeast, lucerne and grass. These are all a good source of one or more branch-chain amino acids. Conventional feeds source protein from pulses and cereals which is 80-90% digestible, which increases liver loading. A cereal free diet is appropriate for these horses.Always use a suitable balancer specifically designed to balance an all-forage diet, such as Total Eclipse, Flexi-Balance, Lunar Eclipse. Your friend is correct inasmuch as she is thinking that the horse has a small stomach – which it has! But as the forage feed is not digested there, it soon passes through on its way to the caecum which is the first part of the large intestine. The caecum is huge which why horses at pasture can eat all day long. This is where microbes ferment the fibre in the forage. Young horses need plenty of protein to build up good muscles and plenty of calcium to make strong bones. Lucerne is an ideal feed as it is a good source of both protein and calcium, but is naturally very low in sugar. Omega 3 is an essential part of a youngster’s diet. It is an excellent natural anti-inflammatory and will help to support and lubricate the joints. Forages generally have the right balance of omega 3 but may not have enough for growing young horses. Total Eclipse, Instant Linseed and Top Nosh provide plenty of Omega 3 in a Vegan form. There is also evidence to show that mares who are fed Linseed whilst in foal will have foals with a higher immune system.

Hay is an ideal food for housed horses. The best hay is that which is first cut relatively late in the season, such as after mid-July. Mixed grass species are best and ryegrass, especially tetraploid ryegrass, should be avoided. Analysing the hay will reveal its nutritional content and value. Sugar levels are crucial as it is sugar that causes blood sugar and insulin to rise, which are trigger factors for laminitis. Sugar should be below 10% and in an ideal world, below 7.5%. A short soak (1 hour) in plenty of water will reduce sugar levels. Offer the hay straight from the soak tub, wet, for freshness. Because Red Bag Grass Pellets are a forage feed, digested in the same way as grass, it's perfectly safe to let him eat them right until the moment you get on. My horse has an injury and needs box rest but he is underweight and needs feeding up. How can I get his weight up when he is on box rest, as I was told you cannot give nutritious feed if the horse is not working? Horses that are not such good doers can also have more of the higher nutrient forages. In effect you will be offering manger food and forage in one. Lucerne, and in particular that grown in the UK and Europe as opposed to America, tends to have lower sugar levels than grass, typically below 7% sugar. This makes this a suitable feed for horses with metabolic problems but is an ideal feed, as part of a mixed forage diet, to help ensure that problems do not arise later in the horse’s life.

Grass can be a very high in sugar and how we manage grass has a big impact. Some types, such as ryegrass, can fix more sugar than other types. Former dairy or sheep pasture for instance, which is based on ryegrass, can be very risky for horses and could be why some yards seem to have a much higher incidence of laminitis than others. Although some grass can have high sugar levels, plenty of other grass can have very low levels of sugar. Mature grass, including much of that made into hay, that is also high in fibre seems to be a lot less risky for horses. The sugar has to be digested out of the grass and will enter the blood stream very gradually and the insulin will be able easily to maintain constant levels. Although the same plant, lucerne which is available in the UK is very different from alfalfa produced in the US. Particularly in the Southern states, grass does not grow well as it is too dry, but alfalfa can be grown easily, especially with irrigation. It is still very popular to fatten cattle so the types of alfalfa used in America are generally higher in sugars and nutrition than those used on the UK, where it is grown extensively for horses. A: When horses are prone to tying up, it is important to keep their metabolism off the anaerobic, glucose pathway as this results in the formation of lactic acid, too much of which will trigger a tying up episode. If we can keep them on aerobic pathways, using free fatty acids as fuel, lactic acid and heat are not produced in the muscles and the risk of an episode of tying up is greatly reduced. Avoid feeds containing sugar and starch, which are digested to glucose. These include cereals, pulses such as peas and soya, wheatfeed, molasses, corn syrup and so on; Timothy Chop. This is very similar to hay and can be used as direct substitute. Chopped feeds have been shown to take longer to eat than long fibre hay.

Information on alfalfa originating from the US is not always applicable to our position in the UK as it is grown differently, harvested differently and we do not feed it at such high levels – generally we suggest it is not fed at more than 1% of body weight or 40% of total intake. In the feed bowl, soaked LucieNuts are ideal, being naturally low in sugar. Add Total Eclipse balancer, or Flexi-Balance if you feel joints need additional support. Metabolically challenged horses or ponies may be better with MetaSlim. Soaked PuraBeet will give additional bulk and hydration. LucieFibre Cubes can be used instead of LucieNuts if the horse (or pony) is getting too heavy. Simple Promise is a supplement company based in Camas, Washington. The company claims to “follow the science” while practicing strict standards of quality. Make good use of sources of fermentable fibre but low in sugar such as lucerne and unmolassed beet pulp; Blood Support Blend: Meta Slim Complete contains an unusual formula called a “Blood Support Blend”, which is 200mg of each scoop. It’s unclear how this blend supports your blood, although it contains 100mg of garlic and 100mg of alpha-lipoic acid.To replace the hay that the horse can no longer eat, use HayCare. Some older horses are able to manage very well on grass, especially if it is short, as this will need very little chewing, but will struggle with long or coarse grass. Use the same weight of HayCare as you did of hay and add 2.5 times its volume of water. It will be ready to feed in 10 – 15 minutes. You may need a large tub!

Forage feeds are eaten more slowly – many processed feeds have molasses added which makes the horse eat faster and also to eat it all in one go. Research has shown that the same dry weight and calorific value of feed fed as forage is eaten in an average of 9 bouts, whereas on a conventional feed, the horse will surface for air only once. Horses are grazers, not gobblers, and should be fed to allow them to take time over their feed – which can be as big as you like or they need. The horse’s natural diet is grazing and that has a high water content so it makes sense to offer hydrated feeds. However, some horses have been given dry feeds for most of their lives and do not expect to have soaked feeds. They will get used to them if you persist! Feeding dry pellets of any type carries a risk of choke so we advise that the best way to feed pelleted feeds is soaked. If, for whatever reason, you feel unable to soak pelleted feeds, we suggest that you thoroughly mix them with twice their volume of soaked PuraBeet, or twice their volume of a suitable chop/chaff and dampen well with water. A good quality forage diet will ensure your horse has enough energy stored in his muscles to sustain him during his work, but not so much that he becomes overexcited and unmanageable, or at risk of digestive problems. A low sugar and starch diet reduces the risk of laminitis, colic, tying up, ulcers, filled legs and behavioural problems.Protein is the most important nutrient for horses alongside fibre. Protein supports all the internal organs, blood, muscle and hooves as well as skin and hair. The minimum requirement for protein is 10% of the diet. Higher levels are better, especially forage protein. This is very different from protein in cereals and pulses. Forage protein has a low digestibility, which means only around half is actually digested in the foregut. The rest goes into the hind gut where is supports the gut microbes. Hay is best with a protein content of 13 – 15%. This essential nutrient should not be rationed! But ensure it is from forage and not grains or pulses. An addition to the feed can be Eclipse Recovery, this can help give the immune system a boost. Fed at 40g per 100kg of body weight so an average 500kg will need 200g per day.