It’s a jungle out there when it comes to feeds and
supplements for horses. A simple Google search for ‘horse supplement’ turns up
over 67 million results, and ‘horse feed’ shows 485 million! Every ad feels the
same, and every company’s representative says their product is the best, so it
can quickly feel like a losing battle. When evaluating your options, here are a
few good questions to ask.…
Here are a
few general recommendations for hard keepers. These may sound simple but can
have a profound impact on how the horse utilizes nutrition.Have teeth
evaluated by a reputable equine dental specialist at least every 12 months.
Even little things like an under bite or overbite (which most horses have) can
cause hooks and ramps to develop on the molars where we can’t see. These
over gro…
Horses are known for the explosive power that comes from
strong, fully engaged muscles. Along with proper training, an amino acid supplement
can help improve muscling, stamina, and explosive strength in horses. Amino acids are critical to a horse’s health because they
are the building blocks of nearly every soft tissue component within the body
including muscles, tendons, ligaments, and the ne…
The objective of managing and caring for a newborn foal is
to allow them to grow and develop into the best athlete they can be. It doesn’t matter if you’re hoping to have an
international level competitor, a weekend hack horse or just a pasture ornament
we all want our horses to be healthy and sound.
So, what are the key parameters in growing horses that determine long
term soundness and he…
Harvest time of hay is one of the most influential factors that
determine the quality of hay. As grasses and legumes continue to grow and mature
the amount of valuable nutrients such as protein and energy decrease. Each day
harvest is delayed reduces the quality of the hay.As plants progress from the vegetative state (no seed heads
or flowers) to the final seed formation state, the amount of s…
Knowing
the body weight of a horse is an essential element for many management
decisions. Most horse owners and veterinarians underestimate body weight of a
horse when using only visual assessment. Livestock scales are the most accurate
method for determining body weight of a horse, but they are not easily
accessible by most horse owners. This poses two questions for horse owners: 1)
is it r…
