Many of us are now fortunate enough to have now been greeted with some grass.
You may already be restricting grazing to manage weight gain and sugar intake. Obesity can affect all breeds, ages and types of horse and pony. Controlling weight and feed intake, through grass or feed we provide is critical, but also needs to form part of an exercise plan and overall management strategy where possible.
The Keyflow Team have put together a summary of the things you should consider this Spring:
Is your horse or pony overweight?
Are they at risk of obesity or prone to weight gain?
Do you routinely record their weight?
Have they had laminitis previously?
Do you consider them to be at risk of insulin dysregulation or Cushings (PPID) and have you discussed this with your Vet?
Does your horse or pony have any time at grass? Are they turned out or living out all the time?
Are you feeding any supplementary ‘hard feed’?
Are you feeding any hay or haylage? Do you soak their hay? If so in how much water and for how long?
Hay needs to be soaked for more than 6 hours in a plentiful supply of water, not packed into a bucket, in order to reduce the sugar content
A low sugar, high fibre haylage may be lower in sugar and safer than hay, depending on the grass species included and when it was cut
Are you providing a high quality vitamin and mineral supplement to support overall health and wellbeing, especially for horses and ponies on a weight control diet
Are you supporting hindgut health and an appropriate microbiome with a suitable probiotic?
Horses and ponies on a low-intake diet are at greater risk of gastric ulcers and hind gut acidosis which can lead to further complications
We would be delighted to discuss your current management strategy and support you. Please use the details below to contact us!
With an increase in advice requests for horses and ponies with concerns of Laminitis, and weight management, we are delighted to share with kind permission of Tamzin Furtado at the University of Liverpool The Philip Leverhulme Equine Hospital this amazing guide to weight management; When the Grass is Greener!
You can view and download the guide here:
https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/media/livacuk/equine/documents/Equine,Weight,Management.pdf
Keyflow Pink Mash is totally safe for horses and ponies at risk of laminitis and those requiring weight management, providing a significant source of highly digestible super fibre combined with natural antioxidants from beetroot. Protexin® probiotics and prebiotics are added to support and stabilise the microbial balance in the hind gut. Micronised linseed is included to carefully balance the omega 3 to 6 ratio of the feed.
A 15kg bag will last a 500kg horse for one month, and a 250g pony, for example a Welsh Section A, for over two months.
We recommend feeding with a high specification powdered supplement such as Equestrizone LamiVite to ensure your horse or pony has the micronutrients required for health and wellbeing.
For those horses at risk of Laminitis or with Cushings (PPID) or Metabolic Issues, yet requiring support with joint mobility, gut health and to combat muscle wastage you can feed Keyflow Golden Oldies, a scientifically advanced balancer mash.
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