FEEDING.
WHAT’S IN
the bag
CORRECT FEEDING IS BOTH A SCIENCE AND ART. WHILE SCIENCE KNOWS WHAT TO FEED TO SATISFY THE HORSE’S REQUIREMENT, THE ART IS IN KNOWING HOW TO FEED TO GET THE BEST RESULTS. SO WHAT DOES THE LABEL ON YOUR BAG REVEAL? BARBARA YOUNG INVESTIGATES.
R
eferencing the wealth of information found on packaging could mean the difference etween money well spent, or disappointment that a feed doesn’t deliver the required results. tatutory la elling re uirements for horse feed are designed to show what feed contains, as well as levels of certain nutrients. For those competing, it’s also important to make sure all feeds and supplements are BETA NOPS approved.
hese statutory re uirements include omposition ingredients , nalytical onstituents utrient nalysis and dditives and are collectively known as the tatutory Statement and is aligned with regulations in the , e plains aileys orse eeds director of nutrition i ul rook i points out that y law manufacturers only have to declare the levels of certain nutrients, namely rude rotein, rude i re, il, sh, odium and itamins A, D and E. Levels of other vitamins and minerals are mentioned at the manufacturer’s discretion, however, ust ecause some may
not e declared, it doesn’t mean that they’re not in the feed. “Some products are often marketed as feeds’, ut do not contain su cient additional nutrients to achieve a fully alanced diet, when fed alongside forage hese include alfalfas, chaffs, eet pulps and other straight’ feeding stuffs, like linseed or flaked cereals, which re uire, at least, an additional source of vitamins and minerals in order to achieve a alanced diet
FOR THOSE COMPETING, MAKE SURE ALL FEEDS AND SUPPLEMENTS ARE BETA NOPS APPROVED.
