With recent weather taking a colder turn Scientific Nutritional Products takes a look at winter feeding tips to give horse owners a helping hand. During the winter our horses and ponies require additional specific care, particularly during freezing conditions in order to maintain their health and well-being. It is vitally important that your equine stays both warm and nourished in order to allow him to enjoy the winter months. Provide Ad Lib Forage During the winter months our grazing is reduced alongside becoming depreciated in nutritional value. This means it is vital to provide sufficient hay or haylage as an alternative not to mention always offering hay or haylage in the field when the ground is covered by frost of snow. Including essential fibre keeps the gut healthy and mobile and as the horse digests fibre the fermentation process of the roughage literally warms him up from the inside out. Always ensure water is available In cold weather when your water tanks and troughs are susceptible to freezing over break the ice at least twice a day, and try adding hot water where possible to your horse’s drinking water in order to keep is from freezing. Add Vitamins and Minerals to the diet In order to provide essential micronutrients during the wintertime consider feeding a vitamin and mineral supplement in the diet such as Horse and Pony Multivitamin Supplement or Competition Horse Supplement from Scientific Nutritional Products. Keep the weight and the rug on! If your horse is lucky enough to still be getting to enjoy regular turnout ensure your equine is sufficiently rugged in order to make sure he doesn’t lose energy, calories and weight in order to keep warm. This is especially important if your horse has been clipped, losing his natural defences to cold weather. Keep Joints Healthy Just like us in cold weather our equine's joints often suffer more during cold weather and our horses and ponies often display an increased level of stiffness in their movement. Joint Right Supreme from Scientific Nutritional Product contains optimum levels of Glucosamine, Chondroitin, MSM and Omega 3 to promote healthy, happy joints! Remember! Keep safe and avoid turning your horse out on cold, frosted grass! The fructan level can be the highest after a frost and these fructans can in some cases cause your horse to develop laminitis. Fructans serve a protective function within grass as they are able to convert to other sugars and substances allowing the grass to withstand below freezing temperatures. The greatest amount of fructan storage in these grasses happens when ambient temperature cools to just above freezing. So if you see frost on the grass, this fructan accumulation has occurred in order to prepare to protect the grass from the freezing temperatures and you should where possible avoid turning your equine out at pasture. So welcome the winter everyone with the handy top tips from Scientific Nutritional Products and visit www.horsesupplementsdirect.co.uk to find essential health boosting equine supplements.
