nutrition trends Rare black rhino saved


Experienced horse trainer Nichola Reinhard from Ireland knew all about the benefits of Fibre-Beet when she studied horse management and breeding at Kidalton College in County Kilkenny, but little did she know she’d end up using it to save a sick black rhino in Namibia. Nichola came to the Kuzikus Wildlife Reserve in Omaheke, Namibia in 2010 as a volunteer to take guests out on horse riding safaris on the edge of the Kalahari. While volunteering, Nichola met her now husband Berend Reinhard, who is the Managing Director and Biologist at the private game sanctuary, where the family combine tourism, education and research directly with conservation projects. In 2012, the family rescued an orphaned four-month old rhino calf, which they hand-reared themselves – with Nichola even sleeping in his stable to begin within - until Johan the goat joined the team as his companion. Now aged four, Kiacho (known as Baba), was reintroduced to the park and was fending for himself, but bullying from other rhinos caused Baba to lose a great deal of weight due to being forced off the good grazing areas, and eating the wrong plants caused him to colic. Realising he needed help from his human family, Baba came back to the sanctuary himself, and the team realised they had to act fast to save him and called the vet. Together they made a plan of slowly getting food back into him and building up his condition to avoid further colicing, which is when Nichola thought to try Fibre-Beet. “I made up a bucket of Fibre- Beet mixed with Speedi-Beet and some game pellets,” Nichola explained. “I showed the vet, who hadn’t heard of the feed before, but after checking the ingredients she agreed it was fine for him to eat. Rhinos are actually related to the horse and have similar digestive systems - both can suffer from colic.


Super Concentrated Senior Balancer


Baba and his mum Nichola


“So, over the next few days I was feeding little but often feeds of Fibre-Beet mixed with game pellets and a probiotic. This is all he was eating and he could barely stand up. We even had to pour water over his head to wake him up to eat every hour or so, but the Fibre-Beet kept him going, and most importantly kept the digestive system moving and slowly built up his energy so he could eat browse again - the main source of food for black rhinos. It took us three days of this kind of feeding to get him going again, but it worked and now he’s eating all around him, just a bit on the skinny side but looking much better already.” She added: “The reason I knew to feed him like this is because the trail riding horses we have here suffer when we have drought, and often get colic because they eat the wrong things when there isn’t much grass around. One of our horses had the same problem as Baba last year and I also fed him this way when he coliced. I honestly think the fact I had the Fibre- Beet is what really saved him. If I didn’t have it the horse at least would have died and the rhino would not have recovered so quickly.”


For more information on Kuzikus visit


http://www.kuzikus-namibia.de/ xe_index.html


Blue Chip Super Concentrated Senior Balancer is formulated with elevated levels of vitamins, minerals and nutrients. Easy to feed and cost effective, Super Concentrated Senior Feed Balancer contains CushinCombo, a combination of Chaste Tree Berry, antioxidants and omega oils. Importantly for older horses, included is a joint supplement to support and maintain joint mobility, helping your horse or pony to stay active in later life. In order to maintain digestive health, the inclusion of a probiotic helps to ensure gut efficiency to keep your veteran happy and healthy. The


super concentrated formula is highly nutrient dense, allowing it to be fed in smaller amounts, proving beneficial to veterans as appetite has been found to decrease with age, and as with all the balancers in the Blue Chip range Super Concentrated Senior Balancer is whole-cereal and molasses free and contains a complete hoof and respiratory formula. Super Concentrated Senior Balancer can be included in a feed, fed straight from the hand or as a tasty mash. Priced at £24.95 per 3kg tub and designed to last the average sized horse one month. Visit www.bluechipfeed.com


For the dentally-challenged


Baba eating Speedi-Beet www.theequinesite.co.uk


Mollichaff Veteran from HorseHage is a high fibre forage mix that has been specially formulated for older horses and ponies but it is also great for those unable to consume long forage and require a partial hay replacer. Many equines, particularly as they get older, have loose or missing teeth and cannot chew long stemmed forage such as hay or haylage. If you notice bits of partially chewed forage dropping from your horse’s mouth or scattered on the floor, this is a tell-tale sign that he is struggling to cope. Mollichaff Veteran is made from chopped ingredients so it is easy to manage and is very palatable too, making it great for fussy feeders. It contains a balanced blend of dried grass, dried alfalfa and high quality oat straw and is topped with a unique dressing combining linseed and soya oil with a small amount of low sugar molasses and added vitamins and minerals, plant-based antioxidants, biotin, mint, nettle and salt. Linseed oil is a rich source of amino acids and essential fatty acids including Omega 3. Antioxidants from a plant- based source are included to help combat free radicals and


maintain your horse in good health and nettles are naturally high in vitamins and minerals. Mint contains flavanoids that act to relax the digestive tract and most horses also find the aroma and taste of mint to be particularly appealing; and salt provides two important electrolytes – sodium and chloride. Mollichaff Veteran also contains added limestone to provide additional calcium and biotin for healthy hoof growth. Visit www.horsehage.co.uk


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