Here at Scientific Nutritional Products we are thrilled the weather is finally starting to turn a corner and horse owners nationwide are welcoming the glimpse of spring weather with open arms!
In our latest blog, as horse nutrition and care experts Scientific Nutritional Products takes a look at managing spring pasture, and how to ensure our horses and ponies’ needs are met as turnout time increases.
Grazing
For many horse and pony owners over the winter period their equine’s turn out has to be limited, or carefully managed to maintain grass growth and manage the ill effects of wet weather. This means from a nutrition perspective that an increase in grazing in springtime needs to be staggered, as ingesting too much rich and fresh grass can be harmful to our equines risking issues such as colic or laminitis.
Field Maintenance
Over the winter we can often lack the daylight hours to check and repair fencing so when increasing your horse’s time in the field or moving them to a different field horse and pony owners should take the time to carefully assess the fencing and conduct any repairs. During the winter the field can become pitted and boggy from deep hoof prints so checking carefully for holes and filling or flattening them can help prevent injuries.
Herd Dynamics
If your horse is moving from winter fields onto spring fields it is wise to move all the horses together. This means they can be checked for worms and wormed if necessary and it will limit issues such as separation anxiety and any high jinx associated!
Water
Horses and ponies should have access to clean, fresh drinking water at all times as this is vital to their health and well being. This is especially important when turn out time is increased in springtime so horse owners should diligently check and clean water troughs.
Diet
It may be necessary during the spring time to reduce the level of concentrate feed provided to your horse or pony to prevent them from consuming an excessive level of calories through the combination of grazing and hard feed. However it is important to remember that even with an increase in grazing, many modern pastures are not totally balanced in their nutrient content. When cutting down your horse or pony's feed look at feeding a complete vitamin and mineral supplement such as Horse & Pony Multivitamin from Scientific Nutritional Products in the diet to optimise health and wellbeing. The supplement from Scientific Nutritional Products contains over 25 beneficial nutrients of premium grade and is available from our website www.horsesupplementdirect.co.uk.
To speak to a member of the team about your horse or pony and the supplements in our range please contact us on FREEPHONE 0800 032 7774.
