Knowledge
Nutrition Focus
Lorna Edgar – specialist equine nutritionist
Your #StayAtHome nutrition Q&A’s answered As I ponder my next article for Polo Times at the beginning of April, the sun is shining but, everything is cancelled and we #STAYATHOME – what totally surreal times we are living in. By the time this article is published we may have a better picture as to what we can expect of
the polo season and we all have our fingers and toes tightly crossed. In light of the current situation, I thought I’d answer some relevant questions, so with the help of some loyal and patient clients we have some Q&As.
Photograph by Lydia Taylor
Lock Down
Oli Hipwood ponies on exercise 2020
Q: I am keeping my horses in and ‘ticking over’ – how is it best to feed them? A: By now they should have gained condition after the winter, so whilst they are in doing set work with plenty of walking, and not really embarking on a lot of fast work, the diet should be enough to maintain condition without the need for extra energy: • Horse & Pony Cubes or Mix (high fibre) – to maintain current condition • Conditioning Cubes or Mix – to put on condition • Low starch, high fibre & oil feeds – condition without the increased starch/quick releasing energy • Balancers – low calorie option I would anticipate feeding no more than 2 to 2½ round bowl Stubbs scoops of cubes / 2½ to 3 scoops of mix (approximately) or 3 measuring mugs of a performance or stud balancer. You may wish to also continue ‘bulking’ the feed out with half a scoop of chaff or beet pulp which is absolutely fine as allowing them as much forage as they can eat is, of course, ideal. Q: During such hard times I really need to watch my budget, how can I do this? A: Absolutely – it’s natural that this a very difficult time for everyone so the budget is going to be tight, but obviously we still want to do the best by your horses, so my budgeting points would be:
White Crane ponies on exercise
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Polo Times, May 2020
www.polotimes.co.uk
