winter skin health
Healthy from the inside out – and obviously feeling well too!
Feeding the skin
The skin is the largest organ in the body and plays several important roles in maintaining good health. It forms a protective barrier against infection and harmful substances, it allows your horse to feel hot and cold and so regulate body temperature and specialised cells in the skin are sensitive enough to feel a tiny fly. A horse’s coat, mane, tail, oil and sweat glands are all part of his skin, so damage can lead to a number of different health problems.
Keeping your horse’s skin healthy requires correct nutrition and a balanced regular supply of essential vitamins and minerals. Half of
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all horse owners choose to feed nutritional supplements to their horses daily, which are often, but not always, fed in addition to bagged feeds. Products to support skin and coat health are amongst the most popular supplements as everyone loves to see a shiny coat, mane and tail and certain nutrients in particular have been linked to coat quality, hence dietary deficiencies are high on the list when it comes to identifying the cause of a poor coat or scurfy skin.
Vitamins and minerals, essential amino acids (the building blocks of protein) and fatty acids including omega-3 and omega-6 all play a role and
need to be fed in the correct quantities as part of a balanced diet. So whilst good grooming brings out the shine, healthy skin and hair definitely do start on the inside.
At certain times of year, the skin faces more challenges - rain, wind, cold and mud amongst them, not to mention growing a new coat twice a year in spring and autumn and it is now recognised that feeding more specialised formulations can be beneficial for some horses.
Horses that may particularly benefit from additional nutrients include those on restricted diets or without access to fresh green
grass, broodmares and foals, growing horses, performance horses and veterans.
Checking your horse’s diet If you think your horse’s coat isn’t looking as good as it should, getting some advice from a feed company’s nutritional helpline is a good place to start. They will ask you about his current diet, his workload and any other problems he has to ensure that the advice they give is based on your horse’s individual needs. They will be able to suggest changes to his diet to help improve his skin and coat, but like most things in nature, don’t expect improvements overnight.
www.theequinesite.co.uk
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