Good Doers
If your horse or pony is a little on the chubby side, then you’re not alone! Maintaining your horse at a healthy weight can be a real challenge and studies report that between 30 and 50% of the total equine population in the UK is overweight or obese (Furtado et al., 2021). Feedback from vets and nutritionists suggests this figure could be considerably higher in leisure horses specifically.
Being overweight significantly increases the risk of laminitis in horses and ponies which is a potentially fatal disease and so it is vital to take action early. Laminitis is just one of the health risks associated with being overweight or obese. More information on feeding and managing the good doer or overweight horse can be found here.
Many people wonder if good doers even need a bucket feed. However, even very good quality forages tend to be low in certain nutrients and so it’s a good idea to incorporate a broad-spectrum vitamin and mineral supplement or balancer into your horse’s diet. These can be combined with a low calorie chopped fibre feed.
Why do I need to add chopped fibre?
A key function of chopped fibre in the horse’s bucket feed is to slow the rate of intake. Whilst pelleted fibres and mashes supply fibre, they don’t perform the same important role of slowing the speed at which the horse consumes their feed. Recent studies have shown that even when relatively small amounts of feeds are fed as ‘meals’, as would be the case with a balancer, a horse with underlying insulin dysregulation experiences a more exaggerated insulinaemic response (Macon et al., 2022). Other studies have shown that feeding straw can slow the rate of intake to such an extent that no discernible insulinaemic response results (Jansson et al., 2021) which makes sense when we think about the basic principle of the horse being a trickle feeder. Slowing the rate of intake so the horse consumes a trickle of feed should therefore be the aim for all horses.
Dengie’s range of low calorie chopped fibre feeds include:
Meadow Lite with Herbs
- 5 MJ/kg Digestible Energy
- 3% sugar
- 5% starch
- A blend of grass and straw which provides maximum chew time whilst keeping calorie intake to a minimum
- Includes cinnamon and thyme to tempt fussy feeders and the added postbiotics help to promote digestive health
Click here to learn more about Dengie Meadow Lite with Herbs.
Hi-Fi Lite
- 7.5 MJ/kg Digestible Energy
- 7% sugar
- 1.5% starch
- A short chopped fibre feed with no added pellets to provide increased chew time whilst remaining low in calories
- Includes a light molasses coating to tempt fussy feeders
Click here to learn more about Dengie Hi-Fi Lite.
Ulser Lite
- 8 MJ/kg Digestible Energy
- 6.5% sugar
- 2% starch
- Contains chopped dried grass for natural sweetness alongside good quality straw and tasty herbs
- Includes prebiotics and added alfalfa pellets for supporting gastric and digestive health
- Approved by BETA for horses and ponies prone to Equine Gastric Ulcer Syndrome
Click here to learn more about Dengie Ulser Lite.
Hi-Fi Molasses Free
- 8.5 MJ/kg Digestible Energy
- 2.5% sugar
- 1.5% starch
- A blend of chopped and pelleted nutritious alfalfa and good quality straw
- Lowest sugar option, without the inclusion of any grass or molasses
- Mint, fenugreek and fibre pellets make this a tasty option for fussy feeders
Click here to learn more about Dengie Hi-Fi Molasses Free.
Healthy Hooves Molasses Free
- 5 MJ/kg Digestible Energy
- 5% sugar
- 5% starch
- Nutritionally balanced when fed to recommended quantities, so no need to add a balancer or supplement
- Contains MSM and biotin for healthier hooves and stronger joints
- Includes garlic to tempt fussy feeders
Click here to learn more about Dengie Healthy Hooves Molasses Free.
For more information or if you would like the Dengie nutrition team to review your horse or pony’s diet and help you select the most appropriate feed, get in touch by calling us on 01621 841 188 or by completing our feed advice form.
References
- Furtado et al., (2021) Exploring horse owners’ understanding of obese body condition and weight management in UK leisure horses. Equine Veterinary Journal, 53(4), pp.752-762.
- Jansson et al., (2021) Straw as an Alternative to Grass Forage in Horses—Effects on Post-Prandial Metabolic Profile, Energy Intake, Behaviour and Gastric Ulceration. Animals. 11.
- Macon et al., (2022) Postprandial insulin responses to various feedstuffs differ in insulin dysregulated horses compared with non‐insulin dysregulated controls. Equine Veterinary Journal, 54(3), pp.574-583.