The last few months have flown by in a whirl of conferences and events. The highlight was presenting at the National Equine Forum (NEF). I have sat in the audience at the forum on many an occasion and I very fondly remember listening to the late, great Professor Sir Colin Spedding who started the forum over 30 years ago. His anecdotes usually involved an ancient Chinese proverb, or something that passed for one, and were highly entertaining!

My presentation at the NEF was about the challenges of identifying reliable sources of information and advice in the modern world. Most of us have access to more information than ever before but how do we decide which sources are trustworthy and which aren’t? The opportunity came about as a result of a project I am leading under the auspices of BETA; a register for equine nutritionists and feed advisers (ENFAR). The aim is to be able to signpost horse owners and others to those nutritionists and feed advisers who have achieved a minimum standard, keep up to date through completing CPD and conduct themselves professionally by adhering to a code of best practice. I am sure we will have to amend and develop the register as we learn more about how people will use it but the positivity with which it has been received has been fantastic and suggests it is much needed.    

Working on the register has involved defining what an equine nutritionist is and does which has reminded me how privileged I am to have been able to combine a hobby and passion with a great career. It is a relatively new profession and until the role of nutritionist achieves protected status, my ambition is for BETA ENFAR to help professionalise the profession! I am especially grateful to Dengie for their support and BETA for facilitating the register and to those on the working party who have worked incredibly hard to get it to this point. Watch this space for news on when the register launches!  

Following on from the NEF I travelled to the Netherlands for the European Equine Health and Nutrition Conference (EEHNC) in Utrecht. In addition to the conference there was the opportunity to visit Wageningen university and explore its incredible research facilities. Unsurprisingly a lot of their research is focussed on areas such as methane emissions from livestock and comparing the efficiency of different diets. It is always interesting to learn what research is being done with other animals, not least because Dengie supply alfalfa to many dairy herds. What this visit showed is that we generally have very little to measure when it comes to feeding horses. In contrast to livestock production where average daily gains can be measured and the effectiveness of different diets compared, in equine nutrition we are most often working hard to try and help keep the weight off!   

One area I have been considering a lot lately is how, as an equine nutritionist, I can help achieve good health AND good welfare as they aren’t the same thing, a point that is often missed or overlooked. I am increasingly thinking about all the other things that impact a horse’s health and performance and how nutrition interacts with those factors – just looking at one part of the puzzle doesn’t usually provide a solution. That is why it is so important to attend conferences and events as they provide new perspectives and an opportunity to share thoughts and ideas with others. Now it’s time to consider how we apply all this information to what we do at Dengie!  

On Saturday the 15th March I was lucky enough to be invited for the fourth year in a row to speak at House & Jackson Veterinary Hospital’s client Mare & Foal Course held at their clinic in Essex. It is always a superb interactive day, and attendees are a combination of those that are considering putting their mare in foal, and those that are waiting patiently for the mare to foal in the coming months. It is impossible not to get caught up in the excitement of these owners!

Led by Jess Spanton BVetMed Cert AVP EM ESM DEIM MRCVS, Senior Assistant at House & Jackson who is an advanced practitioner in equine stud medicine, the day is a combination of lectures and practical sessions to give attendees all the information and support they need to prepare them for the journey ahead including what do if everything goes smoothly and what to do if the worst happens and there is a foaling emergency.

Sessions included: –

• The mare & breeding
• Nutrition
• Signs of foaling
• Foaling & recognising a problem
• C-Section with Luisa Smith BVMS PhD CertES (Soft Tissue) DipECVS MRCVS
• The newborn foal & vet check
• Placentas
• Foal handling with Toby Barker Horsemanship+
• Foal ICU/CPR
• Theatre & foaling kit

My nutrition session covered feeding the broodmare for conception, and how the nutritional needs of the broodmare change through the 3 trimesters of pregnancy and into lactation. This was followed by discussing the nutritional needs of foals and youngstock.

The key messages of my presentation were to make sure that the broodmare receives plenty of forage and that a balanced ration is provided throughout pregnancy to support foetal development. For natives and good doers, a stud mix or cube is not the best option as when fed at recommended quantities the calorie provision is excessive and additionally the level of starch is too high particularly for those with underlying insulin dysregulation that are laminitis prone. For those with higher energy needs try to use feeds that provide highly digestible sources of fibre with added oil such as Dengie Alfa-A Oil which provides as much energy as a stud mix but without the starch, alongside a stud specific feed balancer or supplement to support steady growth.

For further feeding advice call the Dengie Feedline on 01621 841188 or fill in our Feed Advice Form.

 

Written by Katie Reeve and Tracey Hammond

With so much information at our fingertips it can feel like we are being constantly bombarded with advice. At this time of year the “New Year, New You” messages are still reverberating around our heads and they will soon be followed with suggestions on “How to lose weight quickly to be bikini-ready for the summer holidays season!” Unfortunately, navigating these messages can be a minefield and there are a lot of diets that can only be described as fads for which there is little, if any, evidence.

However, there is a key message that has a scientific basis and that is we should all eating more fibre and increasing the range of plants we include in our diet to support the gut microbiome and general health. In fact, February is the month of the UK Flour Millers “Fibre February” campaign which has this key message at its heart. At Dengie, we love fibre and so this is a great opportunity to compare and contrast fibre in both our and our horse’s diets.

Why the fascination with fibre?

There’s long standing awareness that eating plenty of fibre helps to ‘keep you regular’, aka makes you poop. Over time, however, other benefits of eating fibre and a diverse range of plants have been identified but are perhaps, less well known. The British Dietetic Association (BDA) in their ‘Fibre Factsheet’ advise that consuming a high fibre diet increases the population of good bacteria in your gut which supports your immune system against inflammatory disorders and allergies and appears to reduce the risk of chronic diseases like cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and bowel cancer.

In horses, too little fibre has health implications too. When combined with a higher starch or cereal intake, it is associated with an increased risk of problems such as colic, gastric ulcers and laminitis. In contrast to humans, horses have evolved as trickle feeders and would naturally spend an average of 16-18 hours every day grazing and foraging on high fibre materials. They are therefore generally considered to have both a psychological and a physiological need to chew. Similarly to humans, a lack of fibre in the horse can also have negative consequences for the bacterial population in the hindgut which can ultimately compromise immune function and is also thought to have effects on behaviour and mood.

What is the gut microbiota?

The gut microbiota is the term used to describe the population of bugs that reside within the digestive tract. Horses have evolved to survive on plant material which is high in fibre. Fibre has a complex structure, and mammals don’t possess the enzymes required to break it down. Instead, they rely on trillions of bacteria and other microorganisms like fungi and protozoa to break it down by microbial fermentation. The number of bacterial cells in the horse’s digestive tract is thought to be more than 10 times that of all the tissue cells in the whole body, which highlights their importance.

Microbial fermentation produces short chain fatty acids (SCFAs), including acetate, propionate and butyrate, which are absorbed through the intestine and converted to glucose or fat for energy use or storage, making fibre one of the main energy sources for the horse. Diet type can affect the levels of different SCFAs produced in different parts of the gut, with a high fibre diet producing significantly greater levels of butyrate and acetate in the large colon compared to a high starch diet (Raspa et al., 2022). Since butyrate is an important energy source for the cells lining the intestine, which are called colonocytes, providing sufficient fibre in the diet is key for maintaining the function of the intestinal barrier and supporting gut health. Similarly, in humans, diets that are low in the right carbohydrates for our microbiota to utilise, result in a reduced microbial diversity and a reduced production of SCFAs.

Mucus lines the colon in both horses and humans and offers protection to the gut cells. It is also where microbes reside and studies have shown that when there isn’t enough fibre, bacteria will utilise the mucus as a source of nutrients and so erode the protective layer (Desai et al., 2016). This leaves the gut more vulnerable to acidity which compromises the joins between cells known as ‘tight junctions’. When the tightness of the joins is weakened, pathogens and substances that wouldn’t normally escape from the gut into the body can now do so and, unsurprisingly, can cause poor health and disease in the host.

Lots of different factors can influence the composition and diversity of the gut microbiota in both horses and people. From birth, the digestive tract is rapidly colonised with microorganisms and factors such as age, genetics, diet and even whether we live in urban or rural areas all have an impact on the microbiota species richness and diversity. In humans, our early microbial diversity can also be influenced by whether we are born naturally or via C-section! (Jakobsson et al., 2014).

Disturbance to the population of bugs in the gut (known as dysbiosis) can occur as a result of many different things over the course of our lifetimes. In humans, factors contributing to dysbiosis include smoking, depression, stress, use of medication (especially antibiotics), disease and diet (Thursby and Juge, 2017). In the horse, stress, disease and medications can of course all be relevant, but dietary factors including a sudden change of diet are often the most significant.  Fibre-digesting bacteria are important for keeping harmful species of bacteria at bay and they thrive in a consistent environment. Sudden changes to the diet can cause bacteria to die off as their environment becomes less hospitable. This can result in the production of toxins which may lead to problems such as colic. It’s therefore really important to avoid sudden dietary changes, not only to the bucket feed, but also to the forage and grazing, with any adjustments being made gradually over at least 7-14 days.

Where does fibre come from?

In a nutshell fibre comes from plants but humans and horses consume different types and amounts of plants. In fact, even the way that fibre is analysed and reported is different which means that in human nutrition the term dietary fibre is used, whilst on a bag of horse feed you will see the term crude fibre. Legally this is the analytical method and figure that feed manufacturers must display and it is considered the most appropriate as historically, bagged feed has typically included little if any forage. When analysing forage, the measures of neutral detergent fibre (NDF) and acid detergent fibre (ADF) are more valuable as they help us to assess how digestible the fibre in the forage is and, as there is more indigestible fibre in forages than other feed materials, it is more useful for assessing forages than it would be for bagged feeds.

There are some foods that provide a higher level of fibre in our own diets, yet if we were to feed lots of them to a horse, we would not provide sufficient fibre! Great examples of this are oats and linseed which are considered good sources of dietary fibre for humans but certainly wouldn’t for horses. Data from INRAE-CIRAD-AFZ feed tables give reference values for crude fibre in oats at 11.5%, and linseed at 9.1%. Comparing these to forages such as dehydrated grass at 23.4% and wheat straw at 37.5% you can see there’s a big difference.

We also need to consider the feeding rate and other nutrients these ingredients supply. Using the same reference tables, oats supply 36.8% starch. Whilst starch is considered a slow release source of energy for humans, it is not the same for horses. As a result the amount of starch needs to be limited in the horse’s diet to limit digestive disturbance. Based on the current advice of no more than 1g of starch per kg of bodyweight per meal, or 2 g of starch per kg of bodyweight per day (Willing et al, 2009) the feeding of oats should be limited to 1.3kg per meal or 2.65kg per day for a 500kg horse. In the horse’s diet we therefore use oats sparingly when we need extra energy in a concentrated form from starch. We certainly aren’t using them as a key source of fibre!

How much fibre do we need?

Based on the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN) 2015 Carbohydrates and Health Report, the recommended daily carbohydrate intake should be approximately 50% of our daily energy intake and dietary fibre intake should be 30g per day, which was an increase on previous recommendations.

In the media you will also see that we are advised to increase the diversity of plants in our diet as well – specifically we should be aiming for 30 plant points per week. Professor Tim Spector and Dr Megan Rossi are two vocal advocates for promoting increased diet diversity and eating more plants. The recommendation of 30 plant points originated from research by McDonald et al (2018) who discovered that consuming a variety of about 30 different plant species each week emerged as key strategy for nurturing a healthy gut microbiome and therefore overall wellbeing. By consuming a wider range of plants we are offering a range of food for our gut microbiome.

In comparison, horses as herbivores eat plants and so 100% of the horse’s daily energy intake often comes from fibrous feedstuffs especially forage. Precisely how much fibre a horse requires is not known; recommendations instead are for minimum amounts of forage which might seem surprising but reflects the fact that we are feeding them not only to maintain digestive health but also to promote good welfare. At minimum, the current consensus is that all horses and ponies should have access to 1.5% of their bodyweight on a dry matter (DM) basis of forage daily (Harris et al., 2016). This equates to 7.5kg dry matter for a 500kg horse or 8.8kg of hay as fed (assuming the hay is 85% DM). If we can feed more without them putting on weight then this is advocated.

Are we getting enough fibre?

For humans the short answer is no. The latest National Diet and Nutrition Survey reports that in all age groups, the mean intake of fibre was below the government recommendations. For adults aged 19 to 64 years and 65 years and over, mean intakes were 19.7g and 18.7g respectively. Only 6% of adults met the 30g daily recommendation.

Again, statistics in horses are lacking, but the groups most likely not to receive sufficient forage are:

• Performance horses – there is a traditional belief that fibre cannot meet the energy needs of those in hard work
• Dieting horses – dietary restriction is necessary to ensure horses don’t become overweight
• Horses with dental issues – if diets are not adjusted appropriately to provide fibre in a form they can manage to chew

Exploring these issues in more detail is key to reducing the risk of insufficient fibre being fed. It is important to remember that an increase in the horse’s workload does not automatically mean you need to increase the use of traditional mixes and cubes, that supply higher levels of starch and lower levels of fibre, to meet their energy requirements. High fibre feeds and forage can provide plenty of energy in a slow-release form, and studies have shown that performance horses can utilise fibre as an energy source – the key is ensuring there is sufficient, high quality, digestible fibre in the ration for the horse to make use of. When it comes to the type of fibre in the bucket, alfalfa is a really digestible source of quality fibre which makes a significant contribution to energy requirements, especially when combined with oil. Recent studies have shown that even high level competition horses can be sustained on rations using hay and alfalfa with only a very small proportion of cereals without any detriment to performance and muscle tone (Martin et al., 2023), demonstrating that a high fibre diet can work just as well for supporting performance without the need to feed high levels of cereals.

For horses who are good doers or overweight, there can be a tendency to over-restrict fibre intake, and historically levels as low as 1% of bodyweight on a dry matter basis have been suggested. With increased research and understanding, this level is now no longer considered acceptable on a long-term basis for good health in the horse. When it comes to managing the overweight horse, measures can be implemented to manage calorie intake, with the fundamental aim being to promote more chews for less calories. This can include options such as utilising straw to replace up to 50% of the forage ration and soaking the hay. When soaking hay for long periods e.g. 10-12 hours it is advised to increase intake from 1.5% to 1.8% of bodyweight on a dry matter basis to allow for the loss of dry matter that occurs in the soaking process (Rendle et al., 2018).

Barriers to fibre intake

One big barrier to fibre consumption in the human diet is the perception that fibre is boring. This couldn’t be further from the truth especially when consuming a variety of plants and improving flavour with herbs and spices. Unfortunately, the perception that fibre is boring extends to how people feed their horses and we are often asked on the Dengie Feedline about whether it is necessary to add a mix, cube, or mash to make a horse’s diet more interesting.

We always advise that the focus first and foremost should be on providing fibre in the form that encourages the horse to chew, as the horse has evolved as a grazing herbivore and this behaviour is important for their welfare. Interestingly, research has identified that when horses are fed a complete pelleted feed which provides insufficient chew time, they are motivated to press a panel for a food reward of hay rather than pellets. The researchers suggest this reflects the horse’s preference for fibre ingestion and/or chewing behaviour (Elia et al., 2010).

There are anthropomorphic factors to consider too. When cooking for our families we like to see a clean plate as an indication that our family has enjoyed the meal we have prepared for them. Whilst we also like to see our horses tucking into their bucket feed that we have made for them, our perspective should be different. A slower rate of intake and a longer feeding time is much more beneficial for an animal that has evolved to spend around 16 hours a day eating. For those horses and ponies with health issues, this slow rate of intake is particularly important. Horses and ponies with equine metabolic syndrome (EMS) have an exaggerated insulinaemic response to meals which is a risk factor for them progressing to laminitis. If we can slow the rate of intake we can reduce the insulinemic response to eating which is key to avoiding further issues (Jansson et al., 2021).

For humans there is no doubt that cost and financial pressures can be a barrier to increasing fibre intake in our diets as well. Government data in the UK indicates that in the last 10 years, consumer prices for fruit have increased to a greater extent than for other food groups such as milk and cereals, and sugar and confectionery (DEFRA, 2024).

In contrast for the horse, feeding a high fibre diet is fortunately often more economical. Feeding a good quality forage as the basis for the diet is the best place to start. Higher quality forages will make a greater contribution to the horse’s energy and nutrient requirements so can result in less reliance on the bucket feed. For horses who maintain their weight well on forage alone, simply adding a broad-spectrum vitamin and mineral supplement alongside a chopped fibre to slow the rate of intake can be a really economical option. There are other barriers to overcome though, not least locating the most appropriate forage for a particular horse or pony!

Boosting Fibre Intake

Dr Megan Rossi the Gut Health Doctor in her recent interview on the TED Health podcast make some really simple recommendations – ‘inclusion not exclusion’ and choosing from the ‘super 6’ at every meal. The super 6 being defined as legumes, whole grain, fruit, vegetables, herbs & spices, and nuts & seeds.

In the currently available equine literature, there’s not enough information to indicate whether we need to increase our horse’s plant diversity. In practice, the horse’s plant intake is already diverse as there are multiple types of grass and other plants in the sward in their paddock. The typical horse’s diet will also include forage such as hay, haylage and straw and many different types of fibre in their bucket feed including alfalfa, sugar beet, soya hulls, oatfeed and wheatfeed. They all supply fibre of different composition.

If you watch any horse grazing with a hedge around their paddock, you are likely to see them spend a proportion of time eating from the hedgerow as well. You may notice this behaviour more at times of year when there is less fibre in the grass such as in the spring, or when there is less grass available to eat. In the stabled horse many of us like to provide diversity in our horse’s diet with the use of hedgerow haynets which also provide some enrichment as our horses sort through the different components to find the tastiest bits!

Can we counter low fibre diets with digestive aid supplements?

A plethora of supplements exist for both the horse and human purporting to promote gut health. These include probiotics, the “friendly bacteria” which work by literally topping up the numbers of beneficial species in the gut. In her interview on the TED Health podcast, Dr Megan Rossi advised that we shouldn’t rely on probiotics to keep us healthy and that the core focus should still be on consuming a healthy and diverse high fibre diet. There is currently no evidence to suggest that we ought to be taking a probiotic every day for good gut health, but they may be beneficial at times when the microbiome is likely to be disrupted, such as when taking a course of antibiotics. The NHS highlights that probiotics for humans are generally safe but they are classed as a food rather than a medicine and so should not be considered as an alternative approach for managing health conditions.

When it comes to horse nutrition, you shouldn’t find any probiotics that contain live bacteria as none have been approved for use in horse feeds or supplements. Instead, in products that say they contain probiotics, you should only find live yeast – most commonly Saccharomyces cerevisiae. These are approved for use in horses and have met legal requirements to demonstrate safety and efficacy. Live yeast are fungi that break down the structure of fibre allowing the bacteria that reside in the gut easier access to break it down. More efficient fibre fermentation can help to promote weight gain and provide more nutrients such as B vitamins. Again, a digestive supplement for horses should not be considered as an alternative to medication, but can be beneficial for horses and ponies who experience higher levels of stress such as those travelling and competing.

References

• BDA (2021) Food Fact Sheet Fibre [online] Fibre-food-fact-sheet.pdf [Accessed 7th January 2025]
• DEFRA (2024) Accredited official statistics: Food statistics in your pocket [online] https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/food-statistics-pocketbook/food-statistics-in-your-pocket#uk-consumer-price-changes-by-food-group-june-2014-to-june-2024 [Accessed 29th January 2025]
• Desai, M.S., Seekatz, A.M., Koropatkin, N.M., Kamada, N., Hickey, C.A., Wolter, M., Pudlo, N.A., Kitamoto, S., Terrapon, N., Muller, A. and Young, V.B. (2016). A dietary fiber-deprived gut microbiota degrades the colonic mucus barrier and enhances pathogen susceptibility. Cell, 167(5), pp.1339-1353.
• Elia, J.B., Erb. H.N., Houpt, K.A. (2010) Motivation for hay: Effects of a pelleted diet on behaviour and physiology of horses. Physiology & Behaviour, 101, pp. 623-627.
• Harris, P.A., Ellis. A.D., Fradinho, M.J., Jansson, A., Julliand, V., Luthersson, N., Santos, A.S., and Vervuert, I. (2016) Review: Feeding conserved forage to horses: recent advances and recommendations. Animal, pp. 1-10
• McDonald D, Hyde E, Debelius JW, Morton JT, Gonzalez A, Ackermann G, Aksenov AA, Behsaz B, Brennan C, Chen Y, DeRight Goldasich L, Dorrestein PC, Dunn RR, Fahimipour AK, Gaffney J, Gilbert JA, Gogul G, Green JL, Hugenholtz P, Humphrey G, Huttenhower C, Jackson MA, Janssen S, Jeste DV, Jiang L, Kelley ST, Knights D, Kosciolek T, Ladau J, Leach J, Marotz C, Meleshko D, Melnik AV, Metcalf JL, Mohimani H, Montassier E, Navas-Molina J, Nguyen TT, Peddada S, Pevzner P, Pollard KS, Rahnavard G, Robbins-Pianka A, Sangwan N, Shorenstein J, Smarr L, Song SJ, Spector T, Swafford AD, Thackray VG, Thompson LR, Tripathi A, Vázquez-Baeza Y, Vrbanac A, Wischmeyer P, Wolfe E, Zhu Q, The American Gut Consortium, Knight R. (2018) American Gut: an open platform for citizen science microbiome research. mSystems 3(): e00031-18. https://doi.org/10.1128/mSystems .00031-18.
• Jansson, A., Harris, P., Davey, S.L., Luthersson, N., Ragnarsson, S., Ringmark, S. (2021) Straw as an Alternative to Grass Forage in Horses—Effects on Post-Prandial Metabolic Profile, Energy Intake, Behaviour and Gastric Ulceration. Animals, 11, pp2197. https:// doi.org/10.3390/ani11082197
• Jakobsson, H.E., Abrahamsson, T.R., Jenmalm, M.C., Harris, K., Quince, C., Jernberg, C., Björkstén, B., Engstrand, L. and Andersson, A.F. (2014) Decreased gut microbiota diversity, delayed Bacteroidetes colonisation and reduced Th1 responses in infants delivered by caesarean section. Gut, 63(4), pp.559-566.
• Rendle, D., McGregor Argo, C., Bowen, M., Carslake, H., German, A., Harris, P., Knowles, E., Menzies-Gow, N., Morgan, R. (2018) Equine obesity: current perspectives, UK-Vet Equine, 2 (5) Septermber/October 2018 (Downloaded from magonlinelibrary.com on April 4, 2019)
• Raspa, F., Vervuert, I., Capucchio, M.T., Colombino, E., Bergero, D., Forte, C., Greppi, M., Cavallarin, L., Giribaldi, M., Antoniazzi, S. and Cavallini, D. (2022) A high-starch vs. high-fibre diet: Effects on the gut environment of the different intestinal compartments of the horse digestive tract. BMC Veterinary Research, 18(1), pp.1-11.
• Scientific Advisory Committee on Gut Health (2015) Carbohydrates and Health [online] Carbohydrates and Health [Accessed 7th January 2025]
• Willing, B., Voros, A., Roos, S., Jones, C., Jansson, A., Lindberg, J.E., (2009) Changes in faecal bacteria associated with concentrate and forage-only diets fed to horses in training. Equine vet J. 41, pp.908-914

Gorgeous 16.1hh, Hanoverian Franklin is 6 years old and a relatively new ride for Dengie-supported rider Hannah Esberger-Hancock. “Frank has been a challenge, being nervous and anxious about pretty much everything.  It’s taken time and patience to gain his trust, and I’m grateful to his owner, Rachel Scott, for entrusting him to me and working with me,” explained Hannah.

“I advised Rachel to have him scoped, which revealed he had ulcers, for which he received treatment. I also switched his diet to Dengie Hi-Fi Original, as he’s a little fussy, along with Dengie Alfa-Beet and a performance vitamin and mineral supplement.  Since his treatment and diet change, he’s made huge progress. His anxiety has reduced, and he’s become more settled, confident and trusting – making him much more rideable. This has allowed me to increase his training and even take him to some BD events. He’s competed at these early events with great success, gaining 70+% scores at Prelim and Novice and qualifying for regional finals. We’re all thrilled with his progress and achievements so far. That slow start has paid off!”

I hope you all enjoyed the festive season! I was hoping to share what I had been up to at the start of 2025, but unfortunately the snow has put a halt to any plans! The horses have been fairly wild, as they’ve only been able to go on the walker – it’s just too risky to do anything more with the snow and ice. While I don’t like to disrupt their routine too much, sometimes it’s necessary and thankfully feed wise they are on fabulous fibre diets so I haven’t had to change that aspect of their routine while the snow keeps us grounded. I’m hoping that things will return to normal soon, and luckily the horses were all in full work before Christmas, so they’re not missing out on too much fitness work!

Before Christmas, all of the horses were competing at British Dressage and British Show Jumping, and I’m thrilled to share that Snip even won his first-ever PSG dressage test! There’s still plenty to work on, but it’s super exciting to be back at that level!

Once I get back in the saddle, my plan is to continue competing at BD and BS with the horses. I’m keeping an eye on the weather for the start of the eventing season. If we have a dry spring, I’ll aim to get started in April. However, if it’s wet, I’ll likely wait until May. Fortunately, the horses are all good jumpers and can deliver a solid test, so they’ll be competing at BD and BS regardless of when our eventing season starts – it’s not the end of the world.

This year, I’ll be competing with a small team of four horses:

• Snip: now at PSG at BD, jumping 1.20m and eventing up to 3 star.
• Gino: competing at Elementary level at BD, jumping 100 both BS and eventing.
• Heidi: competing at Novice BD and jumping 100, with plans to move up to Novice later this year
• Hans: competing at Novice BD, with plans to start competing in some 90s and then move up!

We also have three young horses turning 2 this year, and Candy is due to have a foal in the summer!

I’m really looking forward to getting out and about again as soon as possible and can’t wait for everyone to see how fantastic the horses look on their Dengie diets!

Dengie’s Commitment to Environmental Responsibility

Written by Katie Reeve and Tracey Hammond

Sustainability has definitely become an increasing consideration in people’s minds in recent years and the horse feed industry is certainly no exception. As the need for action becomes ever more urgent in light of yet more extreme weather events affecting the UK, the whole situation can feel overwhelming. This is why it was really valuable for us to get together as a team recently and reflect on what we have achieved and understand more about how our everyday actions align with Dengie’s Environmental Management Plan Policy. Some of our particularly notable achievements include:

• Introducing the maximum amount of recycled plastic into our packaging for all our feeds – this is currently 50% and increasing to 70% from 2025
• Sending any unavoidable waste packaging back to our supplier for reuse or recycling
• Reducing electricity use and ensuring all lights and equipment are switched off when not in use
• Switching to Green Energy which is 100% renewable energy with zero carbon dioxide emissions
• Introducing hybrid and fully electric cars into our small fleet of company cars and installing charging stations at our head office
• Installing solar panels on office buildings
• In 2022 we invested in new machinery which turns and aerates the alfalfa crop in the field helping to reduce its moisture content before it is collected and precision dried at our production site – this means we can save energy and electricity as less drying time is required!
• In 2023-24 we reduced the amount of feed waste disposed of by around 25%

Sustainability was also a prominent topic at the BETA Feed Conference over the summer, with speakers covering topics such as the environmental impact of ingredient sourcing, feed production and distribution, as well as the impact of regulatory requirements facing the horse feed industry. One key topic of conversation was the advantages of co-products like beet pulp and straw, which not only have nutritional benefits for the horse but also have a very low carbon footprint, as the sugar beet and cereals are being grown and harvested to go into the human food industry anyway! We use and recommend these ingredients to customers regularly and making reference to their low carbon footprint when we recommend them is one way that we can increase awareness of the importance of sustainability when feeding our horses.

Vicky Robinson, Head of Sustainability at the Agricultural Industries Confederation (AIC), the trade association for the Agri-supply industry which includes animal feed, also discussed their upcoming sustainability roadmap at the BETA conference. This has now recently been published https://www.agindustries.org.uk/sustainability.html and covers a wide range of topics including how to report on sustainability effectively.

Dengie are members of the AIC’s UFAS and FEMAS Feed Assurance Schemes and over the coming months our Accreditation Manager will be working to identify any gaps in priorities and actions based on this new action plan. When most people think about sustainability, they think about environmental impact, but sustainability also includes a sustainable workforce and people impact. The AIC Action Plan calls this ‘sustainable communities’ and one of the suggested member actions is to offer mental health support and training. This is something that Dengie already do as they have several Mental Health First Aiders amongst different teams within the business who have received appropriate training to support their colleagues. This was initially in recognition of the challenges that many farmers face when working alone for long hours. As our growers all have their own farms, Dengie wanted to offer a support network for them as well as employees.

All of this hard work has been recognised independently too. In August this year we were delighted to achieve the highest accreditation of “Green status” for Investors in the Environment, which is a national environmental accreditation scheme. We’ve also held a Royal Warrant now for a number of years, and something that a lot of people perhaps don’t realise is that there are very strict sustainability and environmental requirements that companies have to fulfil in order to be eligible.

We are also really proud to support a number of charities and organisations who are working to help conserve and protect the countryside, including the Essex Wildlife Trust and the Green Tractor Scheme which promotes farm plastic recycling. Plastic use on farms and for Dengie feeds is unavoidable for many reasons. We continue to work to reduce the amount of plastic we use, and we also encourage people to re-use before recycling too.

Here are our top tips for re-purposing our bags:

• As colourful show jump fillers or arena banners to help prepare your horse for the unexpected at your next competition
• As a strong rubbish bag for the yard, or for bagging up manure for compost
• For carrying large quantities of hay down to your horse’s field over the winter months when grazing is reduced
• For storing your rugs in to keep away the spiders, or when packaging up to be washed
• For storing or carrying logs for the fire
• For kneeling on when gardening – stuff them with some straw for extra comfort
• For sack races at Pony Club camp
• As a make-shift sledge in the snow

Let us know if you have any other suggestions for re-purposing your Dengie feed sacks!

Inevitably, speaking to customers on the Dengie Feedline there are seasonal trends and queries that tend to pop up time and again. Currently, our stats tell us that we are speaking to more horse owners that have concerns regarding which forage replacers to feed to horses with dental problems. This is a common concern for this time of year when the reliance on conserved forage increases in line with increased stable time. What’s different this year however is that compared to normal, the number of enquiries relating to equine odontoclastic tooth resorption and hypercementosis (EOTRH) seems to have markedly increased.  

EOTRH first appeared on my radar back in 2014 when I attended the European Workshop on Equine Nutrition in Leipzig where it was discussed in a session on Dental Care for Older Horses (Vogt, 2014). Here it was reported that the disease had been described for the first time in 2008, but it was gaining some significance. It was also reported that the disease was generally seen in older horses and treatment frequently boils down to the total extraction of the incisors. Since then, whilst I have occasionally come across EOTRH cases and have some practical experience, this year I have found myself discussing these cases more frequently.  

EOTRH is a progressive disease that affects the incisors and canines and amongst other symptoms the reluctance to bite is common as it causes pain. If your horse is suddenly reluctant to take hay from a small-holed net, but will eat it from the floor it may indicate some discomfort with the front teeth that shouldn’t be ignored and should be discussed with your vet.  

For horses that have had their incisors removed as treatment for EOTRH, short grass can pose a particular challenge. The horse’s incisors are fundamentally the horse’s shears that allow them to cut grass and bring it into their mouth with the assistance of their lips and tongue. Horses without incisors can often adapt to using their lips and tongue to prehend and pull grass into the mouth providing it is long enough to grab with their lips. When the grass is short or sparse, this isn’t possible and if your horse is turned out to grass all day then this is a significant amount of time that they can’t eat which will have deleterious effects on digestive health and mean that they are likely to struggle to maintain weight. 

Top Tips if your Horse has EOTRH or has incisors removed because of it:  

• If the grass is short in your horse’s paddock, they are unlikely to be able to eat it and an alternative forage source to grass is required.   

• If your horse’s molars are still in good condition providing hay or haylage from the floor or in a trough will be easier for them to manage than from a net. 

• If your horse can no longer manage to chew long stem forage due to generally poor dentition, a short chop forage replacer or an entirely soaked forage ration are more appropriate options. 

• If other horses in the paddock are not allowed supplementary forage, creating a paddock within a paddock for your horse to be separated will allow them to have their appropriate forage replacer whilst still being able to see their herd if they are still happiest outside.  

• At minimum all horses should have at least 1.5% of their bodyweight on a dry matter basis daily of forage. For a 500kg horse this is 7.5kg of dry matter which is typically 8.8kg of hay as fed (if the forge is around 85% dry matter).  

For further feeding advice call the Dengie Feedline on 01621 841188 (Option 1) or fill in our Feed Advice Form.

Dengie’s National Sales Manager, Laura Dolphin was once again chuffed to qualify for The Jockey Club RoR National Championship at Aintree.

“From the moment you arrive, stabling the horses on the prestigious yard with the names of former winners above the doors, walking past the winning post, riding a dressage test metre’s away from Becher’s Brook and looking at so many beautiful retrained Thoroughbreds happy in their new careers, it’s just amazing!” says Laura.

This was Laura’s second year at the championships where the event showcases these amazing horses and celebrates their new careers in either dressage, show jumping, eventing or showing.

“Last year I watched the dressage freestyle to music and said to my Mum, ‘That’ll be Boris and me next year.’  We did it! I managed to qualify for the Novice Freestyle to Music; riding in the International Centre was the highlight, the music, lights and crowd created such an exciting atmosphere.”

Boris and Laura are trained by Dean Price, “Dean’s amazing he’s patient and understands retraining of racehorses, I’ve also tapped into Lou Robson’s retraining expertise by following her on social media and listening to her podcasts.”

Laura and Boris are new to dressage to music, performing to a floor plan by Jackson Black and music by the renowned Gaynor Colbourn. “I was very proud of Boris as it was the first time we had ridden to this music and floor plan at a competition! Lots was going on in the main arena, a very buzzy atmosphere but I held his hand and we did it!”

Boris is fed Dengie Cool, Condition & Shine alongside a balancer.  He’s turned out during the day and in at night. “Cool, Condition & Shine is perfect for him.  He was a bit of a fussy eater when I first got him three years ago and needed to gain some weight.  I didn’t want to feed him anything that might encourage excitable behaviour so I opted for Cool, Condition & Shine, which he loves! He has two feeds a day plus hay and grazing; he’s now the perfect weight and has plenty of controllable energy.”

Have you ever wondered what it’s like to attend an equine nutrition conference?

At the beginning of July, I was lucky enough to be able to attend the European Workshop on Equine Nutrition (EWEN), which this year was held in the stunning Gamle Logen building in Oslo, Norway. EWEN takes place every two years and includes a wide range of presentations on various topics and the latest research surrounding equine nutrition.

When I arrived at the conference venue, I checked in and picked up my name tag and conference bag which contained a notepad, pen, info from the sponsors and a USB with the digital conference proceedings. We then quickly got started with a pre-conference meeting with researchers from several different universities as well as feed company nutritionists and industry representatives.

After the meeting, there was a welcome reception and the opportunity to view the conference posters for the first time. Conference posters are basically visual summaries of research projects, usually in A1 size, and include images, diagrams, graphs and tables alongside the text to illustrate the methods and results of the study. When someone applies to present their work at a conference, there is often the option to choose whether they would like to submit for an oral presentation or for a poster – the choice here will normally depend on the nature of the project. The posters are displayed throughout the conference, and there are opportunities to speak to the authors about their work during the breaks. This year at EWEN, the posters covered a wide variety of topics, ranging from a study into horse owners’ perceptions of ryegrass, through to research on different in vitro techniques of measuring feed digestibility. The welcome reception and poster viewing session also provided an opportunity to meet and catch up with friends and industry colleagues as well as getting to meet lots of new people too.

Day two opened bright and early with a fantastic keynote presentation from Janne Winther Christensen on the behavioural biology of horses with a focus on foraging. Janne highlighted the need to provide horses with a variety of forage types to improve welfare, since horses will naturally choose to forage on a wide range of different feed materials even when grass is in abundance. A variety of forage types can also provide enrichment and create a positive experience for the horse, which is so relevant when it comes to promoting good welfare. This was followed by shorter presentations on some of the latest research, as well as a further keynote from Shannon Pratt Phillips on a North American perspective on equine nutrition. It was fascinating to hear about how the horse feed industry differs in the United States and Canada compared to in the UK and Europe.

Following a delicious lunch and the afternoon’s presentations, the day concluded and we had a free evening in Oslo, during which I enjoyed meeting up with friends I’d not seen since the last EWEN and then going for dinner at the SALT street food venue on the waterfront with some other feed company nutritionists and suppliers. Despite what horse owners may think, many feed companies actually have very good relationships with one another, and it’s always lovely to catch up at these types of events!

Day three consisted of a morning of presentations, including a keynote from Manfred Coenen on the horse’s energy requirements, followed by a cultural tour around Oslo. My tour group enjoyed a coach trip out to the Vigeland Sculpture Park and up to the Holmenkollen ski jump, which hosted the Winter Olympics in 1952. The afternoon was followed by a delicious gala dinner in the evening at a local restaurant overlooking the harbour.

The final day of the conference was held just out of town at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU), about 30 minutes away on the coach. In the morning session, we enjoyed keynote presentations from Marcus Clauss and Michael Weishaupt, followed by some workshops in rotation in the afternoon. We were in smaller groups for the workshops, which allowed more time for discussion and questions. The first workshop I attended was on gastric ulcers and was hosted by Nanna Luthersson and Pat Harris. They discussed the current knowledge on gastric ulcers, including the benefits of alfalfa, and also reiterated the importance of getting a horse gastroscoped if ulcers are suspected. This allows for identification of the type of ulcers present (ESGD or EGGD), which will then guide treatment and management decisions. They finished up by talking about the BETA feed approval mark for horses prone to gastric ulcers. This is a scheme we have in the UK to help horse owners identify suitable products, but there is not yet an equivalent in other European countries.

The second workshop I attended was on forage and was led by Cecilia Müller who is an associate professor at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) and has a wealth of knowledge on all things forage! She spoke about some of the research projects she is currently undertaking looking at forages and legumes, including some recently published work on different grass species and their digestibility and non-structural carbohydrate content. In the second half of the workshop, we went outside and had a tour round the forage plots at NMBU. These are rectangular plots of different types of legumes and grasses which are grown and harvested under relatively consistentconditions to allow for more representative comparisons. Despite the pouring rain, it was great to have the opportunity to go out and see the research facilities in person.

After getting the coach back to central Oslo, the conference officially drew to a close. I feel very privileged to have been able to attend EWEN again; it is always a fantastic experience and I always come away feeling very inspired! It’s so important that we keep up to date with the latest research and developments so that we can continue to provide the best advice we can to our customers.

I’d like to end this blog post with a big thank you to Rasmus Bovbjerg Jensen and the rest of the EWEN organising committee for once again putting on such a brilliant conference – we are looking forward to the 2026 meeting in Portugal!

In September 2017, Hannah and Matt Illston-Barsby offered Hope and Star a forever home with a view to them eventually become driving ponies. Seven years on and they are well on their way to a successful driving career.

After a successful indoor driving season gaining the Midlands Indoor Pairs Driving Champions, we are now in full swing on the outdoor season. This is our first competitive year so we needed to get two full events signed off so that we can compete nationally.

Due to wet ground conditions a lot of events have been cancelled so we started late but our first event was at Thoresby Park. We were thrilled with Hope and Star’s performance and completed the event safely and got their first event signed off. When we returned home our trainer Robert Buck from GB Pod Training group wanted to improve our dressage score. We made a plan that we needed to switch the ponies sides so we now have Hope on the left and Star on the right, this is due to Hope pulling away from the pole and not being completely settled in her work which was causing us costly marks in the dressage phase. We had to do a lot of long reining in preparation before changing them over, but the results have made such a difference and Hope no longer pulls away and is more settled in her work. We have also invested in a different carriage which is designed to cope with the different terrains you get and a bonus is that it is silver and green, so it goes well with our Dengie green marathon colours!

We felt ready for our next event Sandringham which has been a dream for both Matt and I to compete there, so we were very excited. We needed to stay focused on our aim, which was to just get round the event safely and complete, so we would get our last event signed off and receive our competency card to compete nationally. The first phase was dressage and all our hard work paid off as we improved our dressage score from our previous event by reducing 13 penalty points and were lying 5^th overnight in our class; we were thrilled! Next day was Marathon Day and this was a huge ask as it was a big event, but we managed to keep it together and complete with no penalties and kept our 5^th position! The last day was a Cones course and another very impressive set up with a JCB arch to drive under. We had a fabulous drive just two cones knocked and a few time penalties, but everyone struggled to keep within time, and we finished in 5^th position and our card signed off so we can now compete nationally!

We are absolutely over the moon with how we are starting our journey into carriage driving and we are so lucky to have the fantastic support from Dengie Performance Horse Nutritionist, Claire Akers to make sure Hope and Star are kept in their best condition. They are looking fabulous on Dengie Performance Fibre!