The alarming statistics that surround the digestive health of horses and specifically the number of equines that are clinically diagnosed via endoscope with gastric ulcers should give pause to all horse owners and begs the question, what can be done about this epidemic?
Horses eating from piles of forage and grains in a feeder in pasture.
When we stable our performance horses and deny them free access to forage, obviously we are not setting them up for success by giving them grain and taking away their opportunity to graze freely.
© 2017 by Sedin New window.
My Grand Meadows Cares Series is all about finding solutions and providing answers to such problems. This is the heartfelt reason that the series was begun in the first place. Embrace the knowledge! It’s free and also can add vital education to horse owners faced with very real concerns on the equine front. Sharing truly is caring.
Current day research that indicates 95% of racehorses and 65-70% of performance horses experience EGUS { equine gastric ulcer syndrome} and digestive health issues are widely considered the number one concern facing horse owners, whereas 15 years ago it was likely joint health. Why are industry disciplines that both cause stress to horses showcasing different statistics? Perhaps examining this factor can help explain cause and effect of lifestyles on the horse’s gut health.
The Grain Quandary
Obviously causative factors in digestive upsets in our horses offer a menu choice of likely reasons to choose from when it comes to getting to the ‘bottom’ of problems with undigested starch and acidification of the equine hindgut.
Can feeding horses grains such as sweet feeds be a culprit on the list? Seed coating on grains are hard for the horse to digest, and perhaps the difference between the disciplines of horse racing and performance horses such as hunter/jumpers, dressage and barrel racing horses lies in the amount of grain and its constituents they are fed. The latter group often favoring a forage first diet for their horses as opposed to a high grain diet.
We condition our horses but aren’t we ourselves conditioned to always feed grain to horses in our care? Does the denser calorification of coconut meal that is more easily digested than other fats make better sense to feed than say, beet pulp?
In my personal experience I have found (just as most other professional horse trainers have done), that horses that come into my care and training from elsewhere are often fairly miserable for a key reason, their poor digestive health.
What To Feed When
The 80:20 feed ratio perhaps is another question for consideration. Horses generally eat most in the daytime hours (80%), then a bit in the evening and little at night make up the rest. When we stable our performance horses and deny them free access to forage, obviously we are not setting them up for success by giving them grain and taking away their opportunity to graze freely.
Learn What Tracks
Obviously there is much we can do to help our horses feel their best every day. We need to change the dynamic and get our horses back on track. And a great place to begin learning how to do that is by educating ourselves.
You are invited to learn for yourself ‘what tracks’ in the informative “Supplement Savvy” series hosted by Grand Meadows President Nick Hartog – in particular check into this episode – I think you’ll be surprised at how barn owners and horse trainers number one horse health concern, that of equine digestive issues with gastric ulcers, can be handled to support the well-being of the horse.
About Grand Meadows
Founded in 1989 by visionary Angela Slater, Grand Meadows is a leading horse health product and equine supplement manufacturer driven by the guiding principle of providing affordable, extremely high-quality science-backed horse products to help ensure horses look and feel their best.
For the past 35 years the company’s mission has been honored and developed further, by President Nick Hartog, who among other accomplishments is one of the founding members and current board member of the National Animal Supplement Council (NASC), an organization that has a profound impact on the safety, transparency, and legitimacy of the animal supplement industry.
Grand Meadow products are widely used and trusted across the entire horse community from Olympic medal winning competitors and successful horse racing trainers to backyard horse owners. Their equine supplements are highly regarded for their excellent quality resourced ingredients and completely accurate labelling and effective formulations. Learn more at https://www.grandmeadows.com/
About Nikki Alvin-Smith
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Please visit https://www.horseinakiltmedia.com/ and https://nikkialvinsmithstudio.com/ to learn more about her affordable services.