News
Feeding just Fibre really does work!
21st February 2008
Frederick and Rowena Cook own and run Equine Management Training (EMT) a training and rehabilitation yard near Stamford in Lincolnshire. EMT's philosophy of training horses is that it should be an enjoyable experience for both the horse and the owner and that how a horse is managed is key to achieving this end. In this regard Frederick and Rowena believe that the feeding regime you choose to adopt for your horse can either help you to solve problems or exacerbate them.
Fred and Rowena say; "having carried out a considerable amount of research, we have compiled a feeding system for all the horses using Dengie Horse Feeds that can be readily adapted to suit all the different horses that pass through the yard - and it has cut our feeding bills to boot!
The basic diet now for warmbloods and warmblood types is Dengie Alfalfa Pellets with unmollased sugar beet and Dengie Alfa-A Lite or Alfa-A Original. This diet provides them with plenty of fibre - to ensure healthy digestive systems as well as the energy they need for their training and work. The thoroughbreds on the yard, who generally need a bit more in the way of calories get Dengie Alfa-A Oil and sugar beet. This gives them lots of slow release energy but with minimal starch levels and so helps to avoid un-necessary fizziness when we are working them.
We work with a considerable number of horses which have behaviour problems or are here to be backed so the last thing we need to be doing is filling them up with cereal feeds which are going to fizz them up more than they naturally already are!"
In this belief EMT are correct. Even a leisure or cool mix will have between 18 - 22% starch despite being described by the manufacturers as being "low starch". Compare those levels to that of Alfa-A Original which has just 1% starch but still supplies the same energy levels as a leisure mix for each kilo fed (10MJ/kg). It is easy to see why some horses can get silly on "cool" mixes.
EMT continue; "The other main issue we come up against is horses that arrive underweight or do not maintain their weight. We have found that Dengie Alfa-A Oil is great for these horses - helping to put condition on quickly but safely (for both the horse and their rider!). Alfa-A Lite is ideal for fussy feeders who seem to love its added minty flavour.
At EMT we have found that Dengie products address all of the many situations we encounter during the course of our work - providing us with horses that are very happy, healthy and full of vitality - you should try it for your horse or pony and see the difference a fibre based diet makes!"
If you would like to follow Frederick and Rowena's example and want more information on how you can convert your horse to a fibre only diet, please call the Dengie Feedline on 0845 345 5115.
If you would like more information on Equine Management Training and Frederick and Rowena's practical approach to training horses, please log onto www.equinetraining.co.uk
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