|
|
|
Formulation of rations for
pleasure and sport horses
Every horse is an individual.
Just say you have two horses, they have similar body weights and they
are doing similar amount of exercise each day. Does that mean they can
be fed in exactly the same way?
Think about it if we were talking about humans. We don’t all eat the
same way, do we?
So why should our horses?
To get the absolute best out of our equine companions, we custom design
their rations, not only for their size and workload, but also their
individual requirements such as their breed (“hot” vs “cool” breeds),
metabolism (are they “good doers” or “bad doers”) and environment
(pasture available? frequency of feeding?).
So what’s important?
Topline! Muscle definition! – from what? … PROTEIN.
BUT…What type of protein should you use?
What you need is a high quality protein, this means the protein source
contains high levels of ESSENTIAL AMINO ACIDS.
Suggested product: |
 |
Ranvet500 Plus
Ranvet-500 PLUS is an exclusive protein supplement suitable for horses
of any age. This high quality protein supplement provides a unique amino
acid profile which provides the building blocks to lay down bone and
muscle in growing horses, helps hold muscle condition on mature horses
and keeps older horses looking young. Its use allows you to vary the
grain ration of the diet depending on the energy requirements of the
horse, while maintaining the required protein intake. The use of
Ranvet-500 PLUS has resulted in excellent growth rates as below. Ranvet
500 PLUS has been recently reformulated in line with recent research
which suggests that increasing certain mineral levels (particularly
calcium phosphorus, copper and zinc) may reduce the risk of
developmental orthopaedic disease in growing foals.
Click here for growth
graph
* Source of data: Journal of Animal Science (1995) 75, 2513-2517 |
|
|
|
What else is
important?
Vitamins and minerals
If your horse is aged or growing, or engaged in work it may be
beneficial to add certain nutrients to meet these extra demands.
The Big Four: Calcium, phosphorus, copper and zinc
Aged and growing horses require higher levels of phosphorus, calcium,
copper and zinc. A correlation between the occurrence of developmental
orthopaedic diseases and reduced amounts of calcium, phosphorus, zinc
and copper, but not with the amount of other nutrients in weanling’s
diets has been observed.
Ranvet’s
Folactin Red PLUS is a premium grade supplement containing these
minerals required for bone strength and hardness. |
 |
Folactin Red Plus is a
premium fortified supplement providing essential vitamins and minerals
for healthy bone growth. Folactin Red Plus has been formulated in
response to recent increased recommendations for calcium, phosphorus,
copper and zinc in broodmares and foals at stud and is also appropriate
for use in adult horses where calcium, phosphorus, copper and zinc
deficiencies or imbalances exist. Folactin Red PLUS now also contains
magnesium.
|
|
Trace minerals and B Group Vitamins
B Group vitamins play a role in the release of energy, and are
needed for numerous essential body functions. In diets
consisting largely of chaff, hay and grains, B Group vitamins
are often in short supply. Aminovite Plus is a premium grade
multi-vitamin feed supplement with added organic trace minerals.
It contains 10 vitamins including B Group vitamins enriched with
copper, selenium, zinc and also contains Yeast, which may have a
beneficial effect in assisting and maintaining digestive balance
and function. Aminovite Plus is useful also as a coat
conditioner. |
 |
|
 |
Vitamin E
Muscle-E has been formulated to help protect performance horses from
muscle damage which can lead to soreness, stiffness, fatigue and in
severe cases “tying-up”. It provides a blend of Vitamin E, Thiamine and
Choline to ensure optimal muscle health and nutrition. Vitamin E has an
antioxidant function and plays a role in immune, cardiovascular,
circulatory, neuromuscular and reproductive functions and contributes to
the overall well being of the horse. |
|
Electrolytes
When it's hot, up to 15 litres of sweat can be lost in just one
hour. Electrolyte and B Group vitamin losses in the sweat can be
quite significant and if they are not replaced, performance will
suffer and so will the horse. Salkavite contains all essential
vitamins associated with the B Group and also provides all
essential electrolytes that a horse in work loses including
sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, chloride, phosphate and
sulphate. |
 |
|
 |
Hoof
strength and condition
Supplementing Biotin at a rate of 15mg/day has reported to result in
improving the hardness, growth rate and quality of the hooves and
laminae strength. Ranvet’s Hoof Food provides high levels of Biotin
together with other essential pre-Keratins which are needed to promote
hoof growth and repair. |
|
How do you know your horse’s diet is
balanced?
The most accurate method of finding out if your horses diet is balanced,
is by evaluating the ration for total nutrient levels relative to
his/her recommended requirements. At Ranvet, we offer a free dietary
evaluation service. It doesn’t matter what you are feeding, grains or
premix feeds, we will look at your current ration for you and provide
recommendations if any improvements can be made. For more information
please go to our Equinet Membership page.
|
|
|
|
Innovation