Common feeding myths

14m 25secs

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Posted: 27/04/2010

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Library > Health & Well-Being > Feeding

"Remember what a horse has evolved to eat!" This is where we go wrong today according to feeding expert Robert Fowler. Instead, we superimpose our own dietary regime onto our horses, often with dire consequences. Fiona Price discusses the art of feeding with Robert and top eventer Alex Hua Tian (who was the first to ride for China in an Olympic Games). Sitting in Alex's impressive lorry 'Chinatown', thorny subjects such as high protein equals high energy, the perils of acid, ulcers, azoturia and supplementation are discussed. Fiona asks Alex how he will alter Magenta's diet in the run up to Badminton and we then see her in action at home.

Comments

Trajano 13 May 2010 Great video! Slow feeders are a good way to make sure your horse is grazing constantly instead of having "meals".

cariad 30 Apr 2010 Really helpful video - supplements and all their complexities can seem like a minefield - its so good to know keeping it simple, is best.

joallan 28 Apr 2010 No one mentioned the grass varieties used to make hay or haylage, traditionally Timothy and Meadow Fescue are the main species used, and the timing of harvesting is important too, the later the cut, the lower the D-value, and therefore the higher the fibre content. In racing yards the haylage is grown and harvested for horses, but their forage diet when in training will usually be the same for all the horses.

DressageSpain 28 Apr 2010 I completely agree with Robert. My mantra is also keep it simple, I feed a plain pony mix, no sugar or molasses, rolled oats and hay. I also feed a joint supplement, but mine quite interestingly is pure collagen, the type ladies take for wrinkles!!! and my vet who is the olympic team vet did some research for himself and was really impressed. The only thing I really have trouble with is the dilemma on is hay. I refuse to feed haylage, it is much too rich for the horses and I like simple standard hay, you can't really go wrong with it. But even though I feed it 5 times a day in small amounts all measured out, I still feel the horses are standing for periods with no food, which is bad. But you can't give ad lib hay to a horse that would eat to bursting because thats also bad. It is a constant dilemma. Very interesting video and I agree with all the sentiments. I think if there was more widespread education of feeding techniques, then there would be much healthier horses in the world.

Fiona Price 28 Apr 2010 We made a video of Alex working Magenta which will be published soon. She's a special lady!

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