Lifestyle Your horse’s daily routine and
management may also affect the diet you feed. Factors such as turnout time, quality and quantity of forage available to the horse (this includes grazing) and yard environment can all have an impact on how much or how little concentrate you need to feed. Horses can easily become unsettled and fretful which can affect their condition. When looking at management, it is important to consider the following:
• Assess your grazing quality • Assess your forage quality • Weather • Stabling/Turnout • Surroundings
Vicki’s Nutrition Tip
Remember your horse is designed to be the ultimate ‘yo-yo’ dieter, gaining weight in the summer to build up reserves for weight loss in the winter. Modern management and feeding practices mean that this process doesn’t always happen. Use the winter to your advantage and encourage weight loss in good doers. For example; unclipped, healthy horses with extra condition should preferably be left unrugged as much as possible to encourage weight loss. Conversely an old horse struggling to hold condition should be rugged for extra warmth so that energy reserves are not used up keeping warm.
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