Review of Effect of diet composition on glandular gastric disease in horses My ears pricked when I received an email alert about a study that had just been published “Effect of diet composition on glandular gastric disease in horses”. That’s because up until recently, we’d thought that glandular disease risk factors were management and stress […]
There is ongoing debate within the equine community regarding whether water-soluble carbohydrates (WSC) or ethanol soluble carbohydrates (ESC) hold greater significance when evaluating the safety of forages and feeds for horses prone to laminitis. When discussing or calculating non-structural carbohydrates (NSC) in a diet, FeedXL opts for the inclusion of (WSC) along with starch to […]
Entering ‘Pasture Quality’ for Accurate Diets With pasture sometimes forming the majority, if not all, of our horse’s diets, it’s important to enter pasture quality as accurately as you can in FeedXL. Pasture quality corresponds with the amount of digestible energy, crude protein, macro minerals and vitamins your pasture is providing. Therefore, pasture quality determines […]
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 […]
A brief review of some recent findings related to ACTH and its use as a diagnostic test for PPID. 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 […]
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 […]
