There is a feast of forage and feed choices available to delight the modern-day equid. But is what’s new better than what came before?
Horses eating forage from a feeder in their pasture.
Careful management and balance of the equine nutritional needs is essential because they cannot pick and choose what they eat in the same way they would in a feral state.
© 2017 by Sedin
Sourcing heritage grains, non-GMO ingredients, organically grown and even more importantly, harvested hay, that is hopefully ‘sans pickling’ and not treated other preservative applications, are becoming increasingly difficult to locate. When you consider other equine dietary offerings such as the massive range of available horse feed supplements and start picking and choosing what your horse should be fed on any given day, the equine ration selection can become complex.
This is all without worrying about the vagaries of soil types, pasture seed mixture choices and grass management practices. All these nutritional factors combine to either aid or upset the horse’s microbiome.
Elements of feedstuffs are constantly touted as a ‘fix-all’ remedy to support the wellness of the equine. Take for example the ever popular ‘Omegas’. These are perhaps aptly named as Omega is not just the last letter of the Greek alphabet, it also has colloquial legacy use as the ‘God of War” when it comes to fighting the good fight. Perhaps the Omega-3 and Omega-6’s are fighting the good fight too, in this case for better equine wellness.
Science-backed research certainly evidences that Omega’s are of paramount importance in supporting the well-being of the horse. It’s always nice to obtain knowledge that is not based on a learning curve of trial and error. It is likely that the modern-day horse is better taken care of than its predecessors given all the information that is now at our fingertips in horse health care and support. But does that mean that horse owners are making rational decisions in equine ration choices and not just throwing ‘trending topic’ foodstuffs into the mix?
There is a lot for the horse caregiver to keep straight in daily nutrition needs for their charges. For every component required in the horse’s diet there comes at least one and more often several companion ingredients that are needed to complement it to ensure proper uptake by the horse’s body. As diligent horse owners seeking the best wellness for our steeds it sometimes feels like we all need a nutrition style barkeeper’s black book of cocktails to keep it all straight in our heads.
What goes with what and how much do we need for the concoction to make sense? Should we be mixing different cocktails up as we go and blindly working our way through the pages. I think most of us know what the net result of that is likely to be and it’s not good.
It is said that the simpler the lifestyle we offer our horses the better they seem to flourish. But careful management and balance of the equine nutritional needs is also essential, because they cannot pick and choose what they eat in the same way they would in a feral state when we’ve sliced and diced up their pasture and limited their access to navigate their own survival needs.
Environmental stresses and modern equine lifestyle situations can be causative agents in a horse experiencing poor nutrient absorption and various digestive disorders. For the ardent caregiver of the horse, it’s a good idea to take a bit of time and learn about what happens where in the digestive tract of the horse to better understand what causes things to go awry. Many horse folks have no idea what commonly referred to terms such as hindgut acidosis means or have knowledge that there are two types of gastric ulcers that a horse can develop.
Becoming an informed horse owner doesn’t necessitate going to veterinary school. Take a few minutes to switch up your ‘following’ habits to include some media time garnering some 101-level knowledge of how a horse’s gastro-intestinal system works is a great place to start.
To begin take this quick 101 tutorial on the different functions and aspects of healthy equine digestion and track it from nose to tail beginning here. The more you know about horse nutrition the better off you’ll be able to successfully address the specific needs of your individual equines.
Also look for the new release on Instagram of the series “Supplement Savvy”, #staycompetitive, hosted by veteran feed supplement manufacturer Nick Hartog, at Grand Meadows, for some straight-talking, sometimes irreverent and always down to earth advice on everything horse and pet feed supplement.
The right choice in grain, pasture, forage and feed supplements can make a world of difference to the well-being of the horse. By offering your horse the right support with fact-based rational decisions you may also elevate your competitive edge and increase both his quality of life and his lifespan. And those are not things to be snorted at.
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 grandmeadows.com
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