Healthy Gut, Healthy Horse!

Some people worry about how their horse or pony will cope with winter, whereas for others it’s a chance to get that summer weight off and not worry about excess calories.  If you fall into this category, take advantage of the chance to reduce the calories and watch those pounds slip off!  Make sure you aren’t overfeeding, don’t over-rug and consider adding a balancer to forage to keep the diet nutritionally balanced but low in calories.  When looking to maintain or gain weight then it’s vital that the gut is in optimum health.

The horse has evolved to trickle feed for 16 – 18 hours a day to provide themselves with enough nutrients to survive.  They need to eat about 2% of their bodyweight in forage dry matter per day to stay healthy – for a 500kg horse this is 10kg of dry matter. If you want your horse to gain weight you should be providing 2.5% of bodyweight which for a 500kg horse would be 12.5kg (DM).  This can come from a combination of forages. Going out in daytime but stabled at night, they will get some grass during the day and top-up with hay or haylage overnight.

Most forages are nutritionally deficient in essential minerals, trace elements and vitamins for equines. Conserved forages, such as hay and haylage tend to have an even lower mineral content than grass, because they were more mature when harvested.  In addition to providing enough forage, diets should be balanced with vitamins, minerals and trace elements and to help maximise health and could include key ingredients to support optimum digestive health. Horslyx Pro Digest Balancer has been formulated to support optimum digestive health from the stomach to the hindgut and includes the key ingredients of mucilage, prebiotics and probiotics.

KEY INGREDIENTS FOR SUPPORTING DIGESTIVE HEALTH:

Mucilage, or soluble fibre, can be particularly beneficial in a horse with inflamed mucous membranes absorbing moisture within the stomach and reducing the effect of excess acid on the stomach wall which may reduce the risk of gastric ulcers. 

Prebiotics containing MOS, (Mannanoligosaccharides) can help flush pathogens out of the gut while Beta-glucans help to stimulate the growth of beneficial bacteria resulting in a healthier gut balance.

Probiotics are live yeasts functional in the hindgut, helping to maintain healthy gut function and reduce the risk of digestive discomfort.  They cannot colonise the hindgut so need to be fed daily for sustained results.

Horslyx Pro Digest Balancer balances the nutrient deficiencies in forage and grazing with an optimum level of vitamins, minerals and trace elements plus contains the above key ingredients in a single tub. Free access encourages a natural trickle feeding pattern that allows the horse to self-regulate and consume Horslyx as and when they need it leading to better digestion, less stress and a happier, healthier horse.     

Even better, Horslyx Pro Digest is a cost-effective balancer, costing just 69p per day when feeding a 15kg Pro Digest at recommended rates to a 500kg horse, great news when money is tight after Christmas.