Has your horse been struggling with his weight, health, and/or digestive system?
Many horses today struggle with the above-mentioned problems because their diet isn't appropriate for their bodies, and is doing more harm than good. There are several reasons for the diet to not be appropriate and this includes; 1) the diet does not fit their individual needs correctly and is thus not supplying all the nutrients in the correct amounts, 2) the diet is supplying all the correct nutrients but the ingredients are damaging the horse's digestive system by not being correctly processed or by being GMO products being sprayed with harmful chemicals, 3) the diet is supplying all the correct nutrients but the nutrients are not in balance with one another which negatively affects absorption, or 4) the balance is correct, and the nutrients are being supplied but the ingredients are inappropriate for the horse's digestive system and are not species appropriate.
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Signs that your horse's diet may not be healthy or appropriate for his or her body:
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Your horse cannot maintain a healthy weight and is either overweight or underweight.
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Skin conditions (mud fever, rain rot, sunburn, etc) that won't go away with topical treatment.
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A dull, rough coat with no shine to it.
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Your horse's coat and main lack rich color (black horses with brown areas, chestnuts having more of a yellow color, the tips of the main being bleached, lack of pigment around the face, especially around the muzzle and eyes).
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Digestive trouble such as diarrhea or frequent colics.
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Ulcers or signs of ulcers such as sensitivity at the girth or back.
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Stereotypic behaviors such as crib biting.
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Constant hoof issues such as thrush, white line disease, and cracks.
Nutrition is the foundation of your horse's health, without an appropriate diet your horse's body can't function as it should
An inappropriate diet may not result in visual symptoms for several months to years, but once you start to see visual symptoms of pain then it can take a long time for the body to recover. Nutrients are involved in every function in the body, from producing energy to building topline, to cell function, and even hoof growth. When there are nutrients missing the body's function is compromised and it can over time lead to chronic health conditions.
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Simply feeding more isn't always effective, this is true for food and supplements, and you need to understand the reason behind your horse's struggles before you can come up with solutions to their problems.
Oubaas was a senior, family horse who struggled with his health to the point where humane euthanasia was considered to end his pain. He had severe thrush, white line disease, and rain rot, struggled with mud fever every once in a while, and lacked energy. He also struggled with his weight and would lose so much weight during winter months that he was just skin and bones, despite being fed 6 times a day with full-time access to extra hay.
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Battling to get him healthy, we decided to give him one final chance on a custom diet before making the decision of humane euthanasia. All commercial feeds were taken away along with GMO foods, his diet was evaluated and minerals were added to create a better balance for increased absorption, along with supplements and herbs to improve digestion. After a year he is now doing extremely well, he picked up weight, the WLD and thrush are better and the rain rot is nearly completely gone without many topical treatments. He showed me just how incredibly important the correct diet is and how a second chance through proper nutrition is possible.
The TrulyTrust approach to nutrition is based on a holistic, species-appropriate diet that fits the needs of the individual horse.
"Let food be thy medicine and medicine thy food" - Hippocrates
I'm a firm believer in giving horses the food they were meant to eat, this means a forage-based diet with little to no grain (depending on the horse's needs), supplemented with whole foods and herbs to help the horse heal and thrive. But another important part of nutrition is a balanced diet, and I do therefore recommend and add mineral & vitamin supplements where needed. Unfortunately achieving a balanced diet with food alone is very difficult due to the high costs of whole foods and severe imbalances in hay/pasture due to modern agriculture, which is why synthetic minerals are sometimes added if the diet calls for it. Ingredients are picked that are healthy for the horse, GMO free, will help in the healing process of the horse's specific struggles and which are correctly processed for optimum digestion.
What the process looks like:
We start the process by gathering information. I have a few forms that you fill out for your horse which give me the necessary information regarding your horse, his/her needs, and your concerns. If needed we can schedule a phone or zoom call to discuss the diet further.
After gathering all the information I get to work, this includes looking at the current diet and what may be lacking and suggesting a new diet to see improvements. I type all the information up in a pdf, explaining the diet in detail, and then email it back to you.
From there we keep in touch to track progress over the next few weeks to months depending on the horse. If we don’t get the desired results we can change the diet another 2 times (included in the initial cost) to find what works best for the individual horse. The cost for this is R350 per horse (this is a South African service only).