Everything Explained - Coatings - why do we use them?
Have you ever wondered why we use coatings on our feeds? Well I’m about to explain all!
The most important reason is that the alfalfa leaves become very prone to shattering once they are dried and if we don’t try to stick them to the stems they can all end up at the bottom of the bag. The leaves are the most nutritious part and so it is essential that we include them in the feeds to ensure horses and ponies get all the natural vitamins and minerals that alfalfa contains.
Palatability is another reason that we use coatings. When Alfa-A Original was launched, molasses was added to provide a little bit of sweetness. Although many people are now concerned about sugar in their horses diets as well as their own, it is important to remember that grass contains sugar and is actually the greatest source of sugar in many horse’s rations. However there are obviously some horses and ponies that require as low sugar diet as possible such as those prone to laminitis, and so we developed a low sugar coating that is used in our “lite” products. This is based on a molasses extract which has had some of the sugar removed.
As the benefits of oil as an energy source have become more apparent, demand has increased for feeds containing oil. Unfortunately oil isn’t as palatable as molasses which is likely to be connected to the fact that the horse’s natural diet is low in oil. We only use soya oil which is non GM. Recently an organisation called the Round Table on Responsible Soy Association has been set up to try to ensure that soya oil is being sourced from responsible farmers who promote a good working environment for employees and take responsibility for the environment. Our suppliers of soya oil have already signed up to this initiative and if you would like to find out more about it please visit www.responsiblesoy.org.
