Straw is gaining favouritism among nutritionists and horse owners as part of diets for easy keepers. It allows energy intake of the diet to be reduced without drastic restriction in a horse’s daily feed intake. This strategy is thought to improve the welfare of easy keepers and reduce the risk of colic and gastric ulceration, […]
… and how can FeedXL help? Polysaccharide Storage Myopathy (PSSM) is an area of growing information. Dr Stephanie Valberg and colleagues at Michigan State University lead this movement and most information and nutritional guidelines we use today can be attributed to research performed by Dr Valberg and colleagues. The purpose of this article is to […]
Is using omeprazole for the prevention of gastric ulcers while treating horses with phenylbutazone (bute) best practice? Recent research indicates perhaps not. Prescribing omeprazole alongside treatment with phenylbutazone has become common to reduce the negative impact the pain medication is thought to have on gut health and development of gastric and colonic ulcers. A recent […]
Our wonderful nutritionist Sam has put together some recent findings in the PPID area: Clear breed differences in ACTH levels in normal animals A normal autumn seasonal rise in ACTH was observed in ponies, Andalusian horses and Standardbreds however the greatest increases were seen in ponies (range 45.5-146pg/ml) and Andalusian horses (range 38.7-84.8pg/ml) [1]. Interestingly, […]
Weight loss in easy keepers can seem like an impossible task and is often the cause of frustration for owners. Despite a strict hay only diet, many easy keepers can still maintain their body condition. Owners are also faced with the dilemma of not restricting intake too much (to avoid colic) while trying not to […]
Confusion around what form of flaxseed (linseed) is best/safest to feed our horses is nothing new. While many of us thought the concerns around cyanide poisoning for horses were laid to rest, recent safety issues around flaxseed supplementation in human diets, more specifically for toddlers and children, has warranted us to look at this again […]
Hay slow feeders come in many sizes and designs. The principle behind them is to a) reduce waste, and b) slow intake of hay. Our FeedXL members occasionally ask, “how do I take into account the use of a slow feeder?” The simple answer is you probably don’t need to. While slow feeders are a […]
Grazing muzzles are useful for reducing your horse’s pasture intake. They can be used for easy-keepers when you are trying to reduce energy levels within the diet. Or when your horse suffers from a health condition which requires a reduction of non-structural carbohydrates (starch + sugar) in their diet. Grazing muzzles have gained popularity with […]
When using products commonly soaked prior to feeding (things like beet pulp, copra meal, high fibre pellets and hay that is soaked to remove sugars), always enter them into your FeedXL rations as their dry weight. The Two Main Reasons to Always Enter Dry Weight: When you add water it increases the weight of what you are feeding, but […]
