SpeediBeet

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Magnitude provides supplemental magnesium, together with controlled amounts of calcium (another key mineral in nerve and muscle metabolism), to help promote healthy nerve function and reduce tension, enabling the horse to focus and concentrate. RRP: 1kg/£29.50. www.equine-america.co.uk Pro-Pell Plus Solution is an ideal daily tonic or ‘pickme-up’ and is designed to provide key micronutrients to support optimum health and performance, including B vitamins, copper, iron and antioxidants. Can be safely fed at the recommended levels in conjunction with most typical feed regimes, when horses need that extra boost! RRP: 1ltr/£17.50. www.equineamerica.co.uk

Copper Plus Powder will help to correct a lack of copper in the diet, with safe and controlled levels, from bioavailable sources. Seek professional advice if a copper deficiency is suspected, either from a qualified nutritionist or your veterinary surgeon. RRP: 1kg/£28.50. www.equine-america.co.uk

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C-Vite E contains Vitamin C for horses and works as a joint and calming supplement for horses. It contains 125,000 mg/Kg Vitamin C (as ascorbic acid). Vitamin C is vital during any kind of stressful or competitive activity, which causes a build up of a lactic acid within the bloodstream and subsequently the muscles, causing cramp. The Vitamin C in C-Vite E helps to remove the lactic acid leaving your horse more relaxed and comfortable. www.animal-health.co.uk

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Lamigard Advanced Care Pellets and Lamigard TRT Regular Solution deliver a unique approach to the nutritional management and metabolic support for horses and ponies. Low in sugar and starch, high fibre, easy to feed and suitable for horses and ponies on very low, or no other concentrate feed. www.equine-america.co.uk

WIN!

EIGHT LUCKY READERS TO WIN A BAG OF SPEEDI-BEET: LOW SUGAR BEET PULP FEED!

Speedi-Beet is a highly nutritious micronized (cooked) beet pulp feed which provides an excellent source of digestible fibre and is suitable for horses and ponies prone to laminitis as part of a balanced diet. Due to its unique manufacturing process, Speedi-Beet can be soaked and ready to use in just 10 minutes and is extremely palatable. It is also starch free and unmolassed, making it 95% sugar free. Feeding Speedi-Beet before turnout can help stabilise the ingestion of sugars present in spring grass. Speedi-Beet is extremely versatile and can be fed strategically to a range of different horses from overweight horses and ponies to poor doers.

RRP around £14.99 for a 20kg sack.

www.britishhorse feeds.com

To enter: Visit www.absolutehorse magazine.com and click on the Competitions page. Entries open 1st March and close 30th April 2022.

SPRING TIME:

WHY NOW IS THE TIME TO SLIM YOUR HORSE DOWN

By Ellen Chapman, founder of Trickle Net

The horse has evolved to put on weight in the spring and summer months so that they can survive winter, when grass is less readily available and the forage they can find is of poor quality.

The problem that horse and pony owners face today is that their charges are still prone to putting on condition easily in spring, especially when the grass is growing quickly and accumulates high levels of nonstructural carbohydrates, yet many fear letting them lose weight in winter. But slimming down during the colder months is essential for horses and ponies prone to weight gain and at risk of metabolic disorders, so it’s kinder for them in the long run. Healthy weight loss is essential If your horse or pony could do with shedding some kilos before the warm weather arrives, it’s important to remember the basics of equine feeding and consult a nutritionist if needed. Horses and ponies are grazing animals, designed to browse for food for around 18-hours a day, and so simply cutting back when they can eat isn’t healthy. Removing hard feed and focusing on good-quality hay or haylage, perhaps with a feed balancer added in, can help with weight loss. Extra movement will ensure they are burning more calories each day, just as it does for us humans (hello January gym membership!). But what about the native breeds who seem able to exist on fresh air? Even the chubbiest pony needs to be able to trickle feed small amounts of forage to keep both them and their digestive system healthy, so sourcing oat straw or lower quality hay can help them. Here’s an important point to note - simply allowing some horses and ponies access to ad lib forage will be problematic and could lead to them gaining weight instead of losing it! That’s due to a hormone called leptin which tells the brain when the horse has had enough to eat. If your equine is insulin resistant, they will also be resistant leptin and that important ‘stop eating’ message won’t reach the brain.

Slowing down that hungry horse! Firstly, it’s important to find out how much forage your horse or pony needs and then, if you need to, find ways to slow down the rate at which they can consume it to replicate the browsing and grazing they would do in the wild. Happily, the company I founded can help with both. Our forage calculator, first launched in 2021 and now improved for 2022 with the addition of dry matter percentage and new data, is fantastic for taking the guesswork out of forage feeding. Inputting horse weight, current forage feeding level, dry matter percentage of forage, turnout hours, grass quality and your goal (maintenance, weight loss or weight gain) will produce the weight of forage your horse needs each day. Then, our vet-recommended slow feeder nets are perfect for ensuring that their ration of hay isn’t gone by the time you’ve switched off the yard lights for the night. Each Trickle Net is handmade with heavy duty twine, and not only do they slow down the rate of forage consumption, but they also mimic the action of biting and ‘nibbling’ used by a horse to graze. Our ethos at Trickle Net is to ensure horse owners can feed forage in a way which mimics the natural trickle feeding rhythm of grazing and keeps their horses healthy and happy! Take a closer look at the forage calculator and our slow feeder nets on the Trickle Net website.

www.tricklenet.com