Busting Feeding Myth's (Part 1)

?? Fat Horses Don’t Need Balancers??

This is thought by many, but the opposite is in fact true. Fat horses can be the most nutritionally deprived group of equines which can have many health implications and can also have a negative impact on their ability to lose weight effectively.

It is incorrectly believed that horses who are classed as over weight or obese are getting plenty of nutrients and that is the reason they are overweight but like with people being overweight is often caused by eating too much of the wrong food and not necessarily too much food in general.

Initially, when horses become overweight it is because they consume too many calories without receiving the appropriate balance of essential nutrients, this is regularly seen during the summer months when grazing is good and horses increase weight quickly, grass is packed full of sugar and the considerable increase in digested sugars during this time causes unsafe peaks in the insulin levels.

Depending on where horses are being grazed can have a large impact on the minerals they are receiving, mineral levels in grass and forage vary considerably region to region and even between adjacent pasture, events such as flooding can also impact the availability of minerals through grazing. As horses are at grass owners tend not to find hard feed necessary particularly during the summer months, but the use of a balancer can maintain a good balance of vitamins and minerals that will improve health, summer grass can also be lacking in good quality fibre so adding your balancer to a couple of handfuls of light chaff once a day can improve digestive health as well.

The second group of over-weight horses who do suffer regularly from nutritional deficiencies are those who for dietary or health reasons such are Laminitis or EMS are on limited rations.

Restricted grazing and reduced access to fodder as a means of losing weight can in fact have a negative effect on weight loss as the horses metabolism slows down as a way to reserve and store body fat to enable them to survive for longer, then when feed is given they store it for the future, this is the reason steady exercise is essential when trying to loose weigh.

A good low sugar balancer is essential when trying to reduce a horse’s weight as many of its nutrients help with metabolism, immunity and cell repair all of which are essential to maintain a healthy weight loss.

Equibalancer’s Everyday LoCal is a Low calorie, Low sugar and Low starch balancer that will provide all the essential nutrients without adding calories to the diet and can easily be fed with a handful of light chaff which will also support a healthy digestive process.