Feed & Nutrition

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What makes a deed good? Is it good intentions or is it good results? Or are both elements required for a deed to qualify as good? When it comes to the “wildies” (loose, wild, and feral horses), some people turned their good intentions into action by putting out feed for the horses wintering on the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains.

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One of our core beliefs is that good nutrition starts in utero for a long, healthy life for our equine friends. Starting with balanced nutrition in the womb, through development and maturity, our horses are living longer, healthier lives. But even with enhanced management, age begins to take a toll on digestive health. Read on to learn about the signs to watch for in your aging horse and when it may be time to switch to a senior diet.

 Feeding Horse’s Body Condition Dr. Wendy Pearson my horse is too fat my horse is too thin equine obesity equine malnutrition

There are few things we humans are more sensitive about than our body weight. Where the rest of the world sees our gentle curves and happy smiles, we see lumps and wobbles and wrinkles. We generally have a far worse opinion of our own body condition than do any of the people around us. I would hazard that this is because our friends and family care about us and see the best in us, and recognize that while we may have a few extra curves we are healthy and happy, and that’s what counts. And if anyone ever said things about our friends that resemble what we have said about ourselves, most of us would likely get pretty vocal about defending our friends.

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An Evolutionary Success Story - Horses have evolved very successfully as consumers of forage and other plant material. Many of their physical characteristics such as body size and capacity have evolved around accommodating their large hindgut where populations of beneficial microbes are maintained, allowing the utilization of complex carbohydrates like cellulose as a source of energy. The teeth of horses have also evolved to allow horses to consume a steady diet of plant material.

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Dr. Scott Weese, Professor in Pathobiology at Ontario Veterinary College, discusses the latest in Gut Function research.

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Why choosing hay for fibre content can be important - Horse owners are becoming very familiar with maneuvering their way through a lab report describing the nutrient content of hay. Terms such as dry matter (DM), crude protein (CP), water soluble carbohydrates (WSC), and non-structural carbohydrates (NSC) are routinely assessed by horse owners looking to buy a hay that works for their barn.

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Horse owners are familiar with the tragic pictures shared on social media of the emaciated horse rescued by the authorities, or the one that could not be saved due to its poor condition. Malnourished horses are a reality even in our affluent Western world. Sometimes these horses are the result of well-intentioned people trying to “save” unwanted horses, only to find they are unable to do so because of cost or scarcity of feed.

Slower Feeding is Safer Feeding

Horses evolved as wandering herbivores, moving slowly for hours and taking bites of whatever forage they came across in their rambles. Modern feeding practice is quite different, with many horses given all-day access to rich forage, an invitation to obesity.

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Horses are grazers by nature, constantly foraging for optimal gastrointestinal health. While their ancestors had to search far and wide for feedstuffs, today’s horses are often given lush pasture and good quality hay that forms an excellent base diet without having to travel far to get it. In this article, we’ll discuss ration balancer options for low activity horses whose diet is mainly forage, and on the flip side, high-fat supplements for high activity, performance, and sale horses.

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There are a vast number of plants located throughout Canada that are toxic to horses in some respect. Many need to be eaten in large doses to cause much of an effect, while others require only a few mouthfuls. There are a variety of resources on plants toxic to livestock, but the Canadian Poisonous Plants Information System seems to be the most comprehensive. It lists over 250 poisonous plants found in Canada, their lethal dose (if known), and symptoms of poisoning.

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