Just like in humans, some equine ailments arise as a result of genetic predisposition. This is true for many metabolic disorders where a horse’s breed and metabolism can increase their risk factor. Whilst you can’t change your horse’s genetics, there are external factors that horse owners can influence to limit their horse’s risk of developing an ailment.
Weight management is of particular importance for horses at increased risk of metabolic disorder. Obesity can lead to insulin resistance and trigger a range of health problems. By keeping horses in a healthy weight range this risk is minimized. Strategies for weight management should include exercise and diet.
When we talk about your horse’s diet, we are not referring to the ‘jenny craig’ paddock. Our horses are grazing animals and the number one factor of digestive health is constant access to roughage. They must never be starved. However, it is the type of roughage that we can look to restrict to help maintain their waistline (and insulin response).
It is commonly understood that pasture can be quite high in sugar and may need to be restricted. But often sugars can creep into a diet through “dull looking” grass hay. External appearance can be deceiving when it comes to sugar content. Our horses however, seem to have no such problem in identifying and consuming feeds that aren’t good for them. In such situations, a horse owner may need to specifically seek out hay that has had its sugar content tested and/or develop a new diet in conjunction with their Equine Nutritionist.
Hygain® has developed META SAFE® to specifically address the needs of horses that require a low starch concentrated feed, either as a preventative or as part of a horse’s ongoing care. The low feeding rate is well suited to horses and ponies who are good doers and on restricted diets. META SAFE’s concentrated low dose (approximately 500gm for the average adult horse) is designed to meet a horse’s full nutritional needs when fed in conjunction with sufficient roughage. Check out Hygain’s website to discover if META SAFE® is the perfect choice for your horse.
This article was written and published in conjunction with Hygain®
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