Most horses have good access to grazing over the summer. Native types make the most of this and are capable of eating double what they actually need! When the grass goes off or horses have less time at grass or even are off grass completely, it can be a bit of a shock to realise how much extra forage they need to keep healthy, especially if they are older and their teeth can cope with grass, but fail to do a sufficient task when it comes to eating hay. We then need to provide an easy to eat alternative to hay, which is HayCare. In the feed bowl, we can stick with the forage theme, but higher nutrition LucieNuts. These 100% pure lucerne nuts, fed soaked, are a good natural source of vitamins, minerals, trace elements, protein, calcium, anti-oxidant and with their coarse particle size, much better for the gut and digestion than very smooth soaked feeds. As older horse are probably getting a bit stiff, a good forage balancer for them is FlexiBalance which is forage balancer and joint support in one, and of course all plant based ingredients.
Rain fall can trigger growth akin to a spring flush, especially if temperatures are high. Even whilst true spring may be in the past, the risk for those prone to laminitis will rise.
For the second consecutive Sunday, presenter Adam Henson has discussed the use of sainfoin during Countryfile.
''Feed the mare to feed the foal'' - wise words from many an experienced breeder. With little grass due to the dry weather, grazing can be topped up in the feed bowl.