( FOCUS ON FEEDING )
Taking Care of The Mare During Pregnancy and Beyond
Ensuring your mare maintains condition
throughout her pregnancy is vital to help her cope with the demand on her body, both before and after birth, as well as supporting the growth and development of the foal.
In the early stages of pregnancy the nutritional need is that of any other horse maintaining a healthy weight.
As the pregnancy progresses the nutritional demands on the mare increase. An unborn foal doubles in size during the last three months, so essential energy, protein, vitamins and minerals will need to be provided to support the growth of the foal whilst still maintaining the condition of the mare.
Improving nutrient digestibility at this stage is important to minimize this loss and help maintain condition, which will, in turn, help to support the mare through the lactation process which can place a huge drain on the mare’s nutrients.
Newborn foals rely on their mother’s colostrum and milk for nutrients for growth as well as establishing a healthy immune system. By ensuring the correct balance of nutrients for the mare you can maximise the quality of the colostrum and milk which then supports optimum growth and vitality of the foal.
Live strains of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae are commonly used
in equine nutrition to enhance fibre digestion in horses. The overall effect of adding yeast to the diet is the stimulation of fibre- digestion, as well as stabilisation of the hindgut
environment and microbial ecosystem.
This results in an increase in feed efficiency, i.e. what the animal can get out of its feed, and this increase represents more energy available for growth, work and reproduction.
An increase in milk yield and milk energy content has been seen in mares that have been supplemented with a specific strain of yeast, thus foals received not only more milk, but that milk had a higher energy content compared with milk from un-supplemented mares.
Lifeforce Formula from Alltech is specially designed for breeding horses and horses in moderate activity by supporting their immune function.
Additionally the supplement helps support the reproductive system of mares and stallions, while supporting fermentation of feeds and forages in the caecum, enabling your horse to extract the maximum nutrients from all feed sources.
A 5kg tub of Lifeforce Formula retails at £90, for a three month supply. For further information visit
www.lifeforcehorse.co.uk or call 01780 764512.
Get More Fibre In Your Horse’s Diet With Mollichaff!
Today’s modern feeding practices such as feeding large amounts of cereal feed and suppressing natural foraging behaviour, is at odds with keeping the horse’s gastrointestinal tract functioning well.
The horse’s digestive system has evolved to utilise a high fibre diet, using bacterial fermentation in a highly developed large intestine. Equines are natural trickle-feeders, grazing on pasture or forage for most of the time if allowed. This fibre passes slowly through the gut, which is designed to receive small but regular amounts of food at a time, and it is moved through the system via muscle contractions. This continual supply of fibre keeps the muscle contractions going and as well as providing nutrients, it also helps to keep the horse warm. So leaving a horse or pony for long periods of time without forage or grazing can cause serious health problems, as can poor quality, or low levels of fibre in their diet.
For most leisure horses and those competing at lower levels, up to 100% of their energy needs can be supplied using fibre, but as a rough guide, at least 70% of the horse’s diet should consist of long-stem forage. To help increase digestible fibre content, a high quality chaff may also be used in a bucket feed to bulk out the meal and prolong eating time. The Mollichaff range of chaffs has a range of seven tempting varieties. Made from top quality oat and wheat straws, the chaffs are dust-extracted, chopped and lightly mixed with a light dressing of molasses using a special process that coats every part of the chaff evenly to make it very palatable. It also gives Mollichaff an open texture, unlike heavily molassed chaffs which can be sticky and lumpy. The range also includes a molasses- free product – Mollichaff Alfalfa Oil.
12 MARCH/APRIL 2019 POPPY BEFORE POPPY NOW
Fibre-Beet also provides an excellent range of minerals, trace elements and amino acids and it has low sugar and starch content. It can also improve energy intake whilst keeping dietary fibre levels at an optimum level providing slow release energy without the ‘fizz’. The mash can be soaked and ready to feed in only 45 minutes in cold water, or 15 minutes in warm water. RRP is £13.50 - £14.50.
For more information on Fibre-Beet please contact British Horse Feeds on 01765 680300 or visit
www.britishhorsefeeds.com.
By stimulating the production of saliva and slowing down the passage of food throughout the gut, Mollichaff can help to promote good digestion. In particular it will satisfy a stabled horse’s psychological need to chew, requi- ring up to 8000 chews per kilo to eat compared to as few as 1200 for con- centrates.
The Mollichaff range also includes three high fibre, complete feeds: • Mollichaff HoofKind Complete – a complete fibre feed which is low in starch and sugar and cereal-free, for horses and ponies prone to laminitis (also great for good doers).
• Mollichaff Calmer Complete – a complete fibre feed which is low in starch and sugar with lemon balm, mint and camomile plus added magnesium, for horses and ponies that can be nervous or excitable.
• Mollichaff Condition Complete – a complete fibre feed which is high in oil and contains Yea-sacc® and a prebiotic for a healthy digestive system. It is suitable for encouraging weight gain and condition in underweight horses and ponies.
All three of the Mollichaff Complete feeds contain a broad spectrum vitamin and mineral supplement and, when fed at the recommended levels, can be used as the sole concentrate feed. Feeding a fibre-based feed over one that is cereal- based is a more natural and healthier way of feeding your horse or pony.
For more information on the best fibre feed for your horse, please call HorseHage on: 01803 527257 or visit
www.horsehage.co.uk
For the latest news visit
www.centralhorsenews.co.uk
Poppy’s Transformation Using Fibre-Beet
Fourteen-year-old sport horse Poppy took a turn for the worse one day, completely losing her appetite, dramatically dropping weight and
generally not being her willing and loveable self – one of the many things owner Charlotte Parry loves about her.
Charlotte, based in Shropshire, was worried as Poppy increasingly became more and more stressed and started stopping in front of the smallest of jumps which wasn’t like her at all.
After noticing her weight loss and loss of appetite, Poppy had her teeth checked over but they were all fine. Charlotte then decided to have Poppy scoped which revealed that she had a huge gastric impaction in her stomach which was causing ulceration.
Said Charlotte: “When I got Poppy back home from the vets after her treatment she looked really thin and I desperately wanted to get her back to good health. A vet recommended I use Fibre-Beet. “Since using Fibre-Beet, I cannot tell you how much of a difference it has made to her! She soon gained her condition and looks really well.” Charlotte added that using Fibre-Beet has completely turned Poppy around and is now back to being the healthy, happy horse that tries her hardest when being ridden. Charlotte is aiming to have a busy season in eventing this year and hopefully start competing at BE100 level. “I will carry on using Fibre-Beet as it is so important for Poppy to have her fibre and this nutritious mash is suitable for horses and ponies prone to equine gastric ulcer syndrome (EGUS),” explained Charlotte.
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