Rowen Barbary

DIGESTIVE DISTURBANCES

The good digestive health of our horses is vital to prevent illness, disease and to ensure food is utilised efficiently.

By providing a forage-based diet which is balanced with vitamins and minerals you can meet your horse’s required dietary fibre intake and basic nutritional needs. Additional feedstuffs may be added to the diet to meet energy demands for horses that require extra nutritional support e.g. for performance or condition. To further support good digestive health, many horse owners are using the natural turmeric supplement TurmerAid from The Golden Paste Company. This complete turmeric pellet is carefully formulated to optimise the bio-availability of key functional ingredients which include turmeric (5.1% curcumin), linseed oil, black pepper, apple cider vinegar and yucca.

www,goldenpastecompany.co.uk

RRP: £23.20/2kg

Pro Gut Balancer is a unique combination of pre and probiotics, together with a mannan oligosaccharide (MOS), to help maintain the health of the gut microbiome. It promotes optimum digestive function and energy production from dietary fibre sources, promotes synthesis of vital B vitamins and vitamin K by the gut microbiota. RRP: from £17.99. www.equine-america.co.uk

ULS-gard Pellet - Natural, nutritional support for gut health and comfort (calcium, magnesium, lecithin, pectin, glycine). Contains key ingredients traditionally used to soothe the stomach wall (aloe vera, marshmallow root, liquorice), and BetaGlucans from high nucleotide yeasts to support a healthy gastric mucosa. Alfalfa and soya hulls base to provide a fibrous mat. RRP: £55.50. www.equineamerica.co.uk

WIN! WIN!

WIN A ROWEN BARBARY ULTIMATE DIGESTIVE HEALTH PACKAGE!

To help combat gut health issues we’ve teamed up with Rowen Barbary to offer one lucky winner the chance to win 7.2kg Acti-Soothe along with 3 bags of Solution Mash and a Rowen Barbary Saddle Pad. Designed to soothe and protect the stomach lining, Rowen Barbary Acti-Soothe helps control stomach acidity and maintain a normal pH, while reducing anxiety in horses prone to nervous behaviour. Solution Mash is a high oil, high fibre, fully balanced feed with just 1% sugar that is ideal for feeding to horses that require a diet that is sympathetic on the digestive system. Used in combination with ActiSoothe that is formulated to support digestion and maintain gastric health this is the ultimate diet for any horses suffering from digestive disturbances. www.rowenbarbary.co.uk

To enter: Visit www.absolutehorsemagazine.com and click on the Competitions page. Entries open 1st September and close 31st October 2022. Full terms and conditions are available on our website.

EATING LESS BY STRIP GRAZING: DOESN’T MEAN MOVING LESS

Studies have already shown that strip grazing is an effective way of restricting grass intake in ponies. Now, new work indicates the added benefit that eating less doesn’t automatically mean moving less.

Restricting grass intake is an essential part of many weight management programmes. Having shown in a previous study that strip grazed ponies gain significantly less weight than ponies with free access to restricted grazing over a 28day period, Spillers and their research collaborators set out to discover whether eating less as a result of strip grazing also means moving less in the field. To evaluate the effects on ‘activity levels’ of ponies strip grazing individually, behavioural data from the previous study was analysed. In addition, a second study was evaluated, that had been carried out in collaboration with the Royal Veterinary College, to look at the effects of strip grazing on the behaviour of ponies turned out in groups. In the second study ten ponies were randomly assigned to one of two adjacent paddocks. Both paddocks were the same size, had been managed in the same way and subjectively had the same amount of very limited grazing available. Paddock B was divided into seven strips (using electric fencing) with ponies given access to one additional fresh strip of grazing every day; ponies in paddock A had access to the entire paddock for the duration of the study. In both studies, behaviour and activity levels were assessed using a combination of direct observation and activity monitors attached to the poll strap of their headcollars. “Similar amounts of time were spent grazing, standing and locomoting (which included walking, trotting and cantering) within the different groups and encouragingly, performance of behaviours related to stress and frustration were low in both studies too,” said Clare Barfoot RNutr, Marketing and Research and Development Director at Mars Horsecare UK, home of the Spillers brand. “While we were unsurprised to see that the strip grazed ponies preferred to graze the newly accessible grass and spent most time grazing after the fence had been moved, we believe this finding could be useful when deciding if and how those prone to laminitis should have access to grass.”

www.spillers-feeds.com

PRODUCT NEWS...

Lamigard Advanced Care Pellets deliver a unique approach to the nutritional management and metabolic support for horses and ponies. Lamigard Advanced Care Pellets are low in sugar and starch, high fibre, easy to feed and suitable for horses and ponies on very low, or no other concentrate feed. RRP: £48.50. www.equine-america.co.uk

Redwings is saying a huge thank you to Spillers for their support as part of their most recent equine obesity campaign.

The feed company is on a big mission this year; to help overweight horses get slimmer while adding weight to Redwings Horse Sanctuary’s funds. They have pledged to convert equine weight loss kilos into £££s, to raise £5,000 for the charity. Spillers is inviting horse owners to join the Spillers Slimmers’ Club, with the goal of members' horses collectively losing 100,000kg. As the weight loss accumulates it will be converted to a financial donation of £5k to support Redwings’ vital equine welfare work, which includes rescuing horses from the risks of obesity. Lynn Cutress, Chief Executive of Redwings, said: “We are very grateful to Spillers for supporting us through this important campaign. “Redwings is a charity 100% funded by donations, and we could not do the work we do, caring for over 1,500 rescued horses, ponies, donkeys and mules every day and rescuing hundreds more, without donations like this.” Being overweight can pose as much of a welfare risk as being underweight for horses, not only because of the direct weightassociated effects, but also due to the increased risks posed for certain clinical conditions, especially laminitis. Other health and welfare implications include increased joint strain, respiratory stress, heat intolerance, an