We are excited to introduce Georgia Kavulok, better known as Equestrian Influencer “LilPetChannel“, as the newest member of our team of brand ambassadors and supported riders. Georgia has been feeding Dengie to her horses and ponies for many years and we are delighted to have her on board. “Georgia is a great ambassador for Dengie as she genuinely feeds and recommends Dengie” commented Dengie’s Marketing Manager, Lisa Wilson.

Georgia recently visited the Dengie site and fields to learn about the company’s field to feed manufacturing process. She was given a tour by Lance Morgan, Dengie Field and Dryer Operations Manager and Equine Nutritionist Tracey Hammond spoke about the benefits of feeding alfalfa to horses. Georgia will be vlogging about her day at Dengie in an upcoming video.

Georgia has recently been feeding Alfa-A Oil for its conditioning properties. “For years I have been feeding my horse’s Dengie. Snip being half Thoroughbred requires a little more fuel to maintain her condition and stamina. That’s where the Alfa-A Oil comes in as it’s the perfect slow-release energy source” explains Georgia. “Alfa-A Oil is abundant in quality protein, perfect for aiding topline and muscle development which has really helped during Snip’s rehab and working towards her being back out eventing again. Alfalfa is also a really effective fibre source for buffering acidity in the digestive tract making it ideal for horses who could be prone to ulcers”.

Georgia started her career as a YouTuber 10 years ago and has built a following of over 200K people spanning across YouTube, TikTok & Instagram. Initially she produced videos on her various pets and animals, hence her channel name, but has since focussed more on her horses. “Georgia exemplifies the positives of social media utilising it to share and communicate her passions and interests. I’m really looking forward to working closely with Georgia so we can share our passion for what we do with her followers too” commented Donna Wilson, Dengie’s Digital Communications Manager.

We are proud to announce that we have achieved green status for Investors in the Environment, a national environmental accreditation scheme.

Founded in 1968 as a farmer’s cooperative, Dengie is still run today with the same ethos of supporting the local farming community. At the heart of Dengie is the strong ethos in producing sustainable feeds, growing as many of our own ingredients as possible. Our alfalfa is grown within 20 miles of where it is made into the finished feed and so has one of the lowest ‘feed miles’ of any horse feed ingredient and provides the best traceability possible. This means that every bag of Dengie feed can be traced back to the field it was grown in.

The Investors in the Environment annual audit assesses five key areas of an organisations Environmental Management System. These areas include:

• environmental policy
• resource management and monitoring
• progress against targets
• action planning including social/ environmental projects
• communication.

To achieve green status with the prestigious Investors in the Environment scheme, the Dengie team has maintained a good environmental management system and driven down emissions in many key areas, in particular electricity, natural gas and carbon emissions. We have also undertaken a number of projects to enhance the environment and support staff wellbeing, as well as the local community.

We undertook a waste audit in January 2022 to inform waste management and are a brand champion for the Green Tractor Scheme to encourage waste reduction. The company has a policy to recycle as much unavoidable waste as possible and utilises a contractor (Green Recycling) which has a zero waste to landfill policy. Several measures are undertaken to reduce waste including sending waste packaging back to the supplier for reuse or recycling, installing machines with longer product runs, undertaking regular line checks and maintenance, paperlite initiatives and reusing waste products where possible.

Ian Hassard, Managing Director at Dengie commented “Sustainability is inherent in everything we do at Dengie and our recent achievements are a reflection of the importance we place on continually striving to be more efficient. Achieving green status with Investors in the Environment is great recognition for all the work the team at Dengie are doing to ensure that we continue to produce the highest quality feeds in harmony with the environment”.

Click here to learn more about sustainability at Dengie.

**COMPETITION CLOSED**

Win a Bespoke Horseshoe Frame by Polished Shoes Plus £50 of Dengie Feed Vouchers!

A special memento to remember or celebrate a special horse or pony!

This month we are offering you the chance to win a bespoke horseshoe frame made by Jessica Ferry at Polished Shoes, the perfect memento to remember or celebrate a special horse or pony.

Polished Shoes is a small business which creates lasting keepsakes from your old/special horseshoes. Every design is completely bespoke. Your horseshoes can either be transformed by either polishing or chrome/copper plating them and can have crystals, glitter resin, plaited hair and photos added to frames – the options are endless!

**COMPETITION CLOSED**

If you would like further information on any of the Dengie products or a personalized diet plan for your horse please call our feedline on 01621 841188 or fill in our feed advice form.

Terms & Conditions: This competition will close at 11.59pm on 31st August 2023. One entry per person. One lucky winner will be selected from the correct entries and be notified via email within 7 days of the competition closing. Prize consists of a one or two horse shoes polished and displayed in a 13″ x 13″ wooden frame with an engraved plaque or photo – worth £175. The winner will also win £50 of Dengie Feed vouchers. No cash alternative available. Entrants must be aged 18 or over. Open to UK mainland residents only.  Click here for full Terms & Conditions

 

A rare opportunity has arisen to join the Dengie team of nutritionists and feed advisors.

The Dengie philosophy is to create the best and healthiest feeds that align with the latest scientific thinking. Equine nutrition research plays an important part in the company’s ongoing commitment to improve horse health. Dengie employs a team of highly qualified and experienced nutritionists who are actively involved in research projects with respected institutions around the world. This is a rare opportunity to join our team!

Based at our Head Office near Maldon in Essex, the position is full-time and will combine the following responsibilities:

• Manning the customer feedline

• Visiting yards to provide technical support to customers across the UK

• A willingness and ability to travel and stay away from home regularly is essential

The successful candidate:

• Will be able to demonstrate exceptional verbal and written communication skills

• Have the ability and experience to empathise with a wide range of horse owners

• Be competent in the use of MS Office and email

This is a rare and exciting opportunity to join one of the most trusted brands within the Equine Feed Industry, graduates are welcome to apply, a degree, ideally in equine science, animal science, animal nutrition or similar is essential, but all levels of experience considered.

Salary will be commensurate with experience.

To apply please send your CV and covering letter stating your suitability to [email protected]

Closing date: Thursday 31st August 2023

Dengie Feed Advisor & PR Assistant Katie Ockendon-Evans fulfilled a lifelong ambition of riding in the Hickstead International Arena having reached the final of the Hickstead Ladies Side Saddle Classic at the Al Shira’aa Derby meeting. Riding 13-year-old Sports Horse mare Kingsleypark Pearl, Katie was placed 5^th in the final having gone through as one of 8 that reached the final judging.

Since their spin in the International Arena, Katie and Pearl have qualified for the London International Horse Show this December in the Ladies Show Horse class. They picked up their ticket at Tendring Show where they won their class and went on to be Reserve Champion.

“Pearl is very new to the world of showing and side saddle, having evented previously, but she has taken to it extremely well and just keeps improving with every outing” explains Katie. “We both thoroughly enjoyed our day at Hickstead and it has been an absolute dream come true to get to ride in such a prestigious and world famous ring. The busy atmosphere didn’t faze her, and she gave me a beautiful ride so to get placed in such a strong class was just the icing on the cake!”

“We’ve got a busy summer ahead including the Side Saddle Association National Show and the British Dressage Area Festivals and she’ll be out hunting again in the Autumn, but I can’t wait to take her to London at the end of the year, she’s going to love the atmosphere there!”

Pearl is fed Dengie Ulser Lite as despite her active lifestyle she is a very good doer so needs a low-calorie ration to keep her looking trim. Ulser Lite provides Pearl with plenty of slow-release energy which is ideal for keeping her focussed when competing in big competitions and helps to maintain her stamina without promoting weight gain. The light oil coating also helps with her golden show ring shine!

The team of feed advisors and nutritionists at Dengie are all highly qualified with lots of practical horse experience which means they are perfectly placed to give high quality practical advice to horse owners. Please do contact the Dengie Feedline for help and advice on feeding you horse.

Following on from submitting her doctoral thesis, Katie Williams M.Sc. (Dist) R Nutr, Technical Manager at Dengie Horse Feeds, presented her findings at the Equine Science Society 2023 Symposium in Dallas, Texas.

Katie’s paper, titled ‘A detailed analysis of consultations between equine nutritionists and a client’, was included in the Journal of Veterinary Science proceedings of the symposium. The aim of Katie’s work was to explore the effectiveness of equine nutritionists including their ability to empathise with horse owners and communicate effectively. Studies in the medical and veterinary professions often show that clinicians can find it hard to raise the issue of obesity and can also struggle to empathise with clients. Katie was keen to establish if nutritionists experienced the same issues.

“It was really encouraging to find that the client assessing the nutritionists rated them all very highly for parameters linked to empathy” shared Katie, “and they all highlighted the potential for the ponies featured in the consultation to become obese suggesting that nutritionists don’t appear to have the same issues with talking about obesity as other professionals might”.

An additional area of interest for Katie generated by the study was how the use of jargonistic or euphemistic language impacts the relationship with the horse owner but also how seriously they take the advice given. “We have to be very careful not to downplay the seriousness of issues such as a horse or pony being overweight by using informal language but equally we want to speak in a way that ensures we are approachable and understandable” says Katie, “so the next step is to investigate whether what we say has an impact on whether horse owners implement and adhere to the advice given.”

Katie’s trip to the USA has been particularly interesting as many of the challenges are the same as in the UK, in particular the increased workload pressures on equine vets and therefore scope for equine nutritionists to be utilised more to provide the long term help and support horse owners need to manage their horse’s weight. Katie’s study was very well received at the symposium and has already generated lots of interest for collaborations and further work.

Being strong advocates of native and heritage breeds, we are proud to be supporting the Highland Pony Society’s 100-year anniversary celebrations this year. In May, the Highland Pony Society and British Horse Society Scotland organised a fundraising ride at Balmoral Estate as one of many events that has been organised to mark the centenary celebration. There were 5, 11 and 20 km routes for the 100 Highland ponies entered to choose from. Dengie Nutritionist Claire Akers was on hand with the portable weighbridge to offer feeding and nutritional advice for all the horse owners attending the event.

One of the key issues facing native and heritage breeds is their tendency to be good doers and so finding the balance between feeding enough to keep the digestive system healthy without promoting weight gain is key. We have recently been collaborating with Writtle University College exploring the use of straw and contributing to the increasing body of evidence to support its use as a great source of low calorie fibre.

An important aspect of supporting rare breeds is finding a purpose for them in the modern world, a sentiment King Charles, who is patron of the Rare Breeds Survival Trust, is a particular proponent of. Through working with the team at Balmoral Castle, we have been privileged to see how the Highland Pony is an integral part of life in the Highlands of Scotland and so wanted to support the Working Native Pony in Harness class at the Royal Highland Show in June. There were 14 entries put forward which made for a fabulous sight in the main ring on the Saturday. The eventual winner was Drummond Estate’s ‘Sheena’.

Along with others, we are trying to encourage those showing native and heritage breeds to present them at a healthy weight. We recently sponsored a ring at the NPS Area 15 Spring Show where a special award was given in each class for the pony with the healthiest body condition score.

Long time Dengie ambassador Lizzie Finlayson-Briant demonstrates that it is possible to be successful showing a native pony at a healthy weight by winning the Horse Trust’s Healthiest Body Condition Award in the BSPS Heritage M&M Open Lead Rein Class at the Royal International Horse Show at Hickstead last year. Lizzie discusses the issue of maintaining a healthy weight in a recent Dengie webinar.

**COMPETITION CLOSED**

The countdown to Burghley Horse Trials begins here…

…and to celebrate we are giving you the chance to win one of two pairs of tickets to the Cross Country test on Saturday 2nd September 2023 plus car parking and a Dengie Goody bag containing a £50 feed voucher!

**COMPETITION CLOSED**

If you would like further information on any of the Dengie products or a personalized diet plan for your horse please call our feedline on 01621 841188 or click here to fill in our feed advice form.

Terms & Conditions: This competition will close at 11.59pm on 31st July 2023. One entry per person. Two lucky winners will be selected from the correct entries and be notified via email within 7 days of the competition closing. Prize consists of: 2 x standard admission tickets for Saturday 2nd September 2023, 1 x Saturday Car Parking Pass and 1 x Dengie Goody Bag which includes a £50 Dengie Feed Voucher. The Dengie Goody Bag will need to be collected from the Dengie stand in the World of the Horse Pavilion on the day of the event. No cash alternative available. Entrants must be aged 18 or over. Open to UK mainland residents only.  Click here for full Terms & conditions

Whilst many of horse owners are aware of some of the risk factors, we don’t always appreciate everything that can increase the risk of our horses getting laminitis. Last year, we devised a handy web-tool designed to raise awareness of some of the lesser-known risk factors of laminitis and to draw people’s attention to the cumulative effect of a number of different risks. Statistics recorded from the horse owners using the laminitis risk calculator show an increase in percentage of horses at a moderate risk.

As many owners of good doers are feeding very little in the bucket, forage and pasture nearly always pose the greater issue rather than the bucket feed. The area which scores highest in the risk calculator is not having forage tested and therefore not knowing the non-structural carbohydrate levels. There are often practical reasons why testing forage isn’t feasible, but if you have a consistent supply, it is well worth knowing what your horse is consuming. Bucket feed always scores lowest as the majority of people select the option ‘I use a balancer or supplement with a low-calorie high fibre feed’.

Research has found that being overweight significantly increases the horse’s risk of laminitis, it is therefore vital to take action early if your horse does become overweight. Maintaining your horse at a healthy weight can be a real challenge and studies report that between 30 and 50% of the equine population is overweight or obese (Furtado et al, 2020). Feedback from vets and nutritionists suggests this figure could be considerably higher in leisure horses specifically.

The following actions are the most important things you can do to reduce the risk of laminitis in horses:

• Restrict access to grazing – stabling your horse means you can get complete control over what they eat – this is often the most effective way to achieve weight loss as grass is usually the greatest source of energy and sugar in most horses’ diets. If this is not possible then grass intake should be restricted by methods such as strip grazing or wearing a grazing muzzle.
• Feed sufficient low calorie forage – aim for 1.5% of bodyweight on a dry matter basis per day to maintain digestive health and satisfy your horse’s need to chew.
• Use low-calorie fibre feeds – Dengie Hi-Fi Lite, Hi-Fi Molasses Free or Ulser Lite can be used to replace forage and are really useful if you only have access to high quality forages. They are the ideal feed to mix a supplement or balancer into to slow rate of intake.
• Ensure they have a balanced diet – restricted access to grass not only reduces energy (calorie) intake but also essential vitamins and minerals. A feed balancer or broad spectrum vitamin and mineral supplement should be fed to provide a balanced diet.
• Monitor body fat – you can use a condition score chart to spot when your horse is changing the amount of fat they are storing. Regularly using a weigh tape or weighbridge can also help monitor if your horse is gaining or losing weight.

It’s often a “perfect storm” of events that combine to result in the horse coming down with laminitis and by completing our quick questionnaire, we hope it will help to make horse owners stop and think about what they can change in the management of their horse.

If you would like further information on the latest advice about laminitis, or personalised help and advice call the Dengie Feedline on 01621 841188 or fill out a feed advice form.

Would you like advice and guidance on how to help your horse or pony lose excess weight?

Our nutrition team are here to help! Fill out the form below to receive a personalised feeding plan for your horse or pony plus a FREE Dengie Weight Management Pack! Included is a weigh tape and monitoring chart to plot your horse’s weight loss!

We are sorry, but there are no more weight management packs available. If you would still like advice on making changes to your horse or pony's ration, please call our Feedline on 01621 841188 or fill in our Feed Advice Form: https://dengie.com/feed-advice/feed-advice-form/

Terms & Conditions: Limited availability, whilst stocks last. One Weight Management Pack per horse owner. Please allow up to 5 working days to receive your personalised feeding plan and advice from our Nutrition team via email. The Dengie Weight Management Pack will then be posted to the address provided in the form.