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High Fibre Diets are Key to Healthy Teeth!

21st May 2008

It is official - feeding high fibre diets to horses is not only great for their overall health and well being it is the key to helping them to maintain healthy teeth! Researchers at Michigan State University published research in the Equine Veterinary Journal (Bonin et al, 2007) that has shown that feeding high levels of concentrates (cereal or pelleted products) to horses increases the likelihood of dental irregularities such as enamel overgrowths or sharp edges. In contrast, high fibre diets were shown to encourage the horse to use slower, larger movements when chewing so that chewing not only took longer but was more effective.

Researchers placed markers on the horses' heads and positioned cameras around the horses to record each horse's chewing action. The results showed that fibrous food stays on the cheek teeth longer allowing the horse to utilise the full range of movement of the jaw.

This research certainly suggests that to encourage good dental health, high fibre diets are definitely the way forward. Using feeds such as one of the Dengie's Alfa-A range instead of concentrate feeds not only increases fibre intake but because for instance Alfa-A Original has the same energy levels per kilo as a "low-energy" or cool mix it means the concentrate portion of the diet can be reduced or replaced without any loss of performance or condition! Add in the benefits that high fibre diets bring to the health of the whole of the horse's digestive system then this has got to be a winning diet plan!

If you would like more information on this research or feeding advice for your horse or pony then please call our team of nutritionists on 0845 345 5115.

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