Is your horse having difficulties with weight, health, or digestion?
Many horses today encounter challenges due to diets that are not suitable for their needs, resulting in more harm than benefit. Several factors contribute to this dietary inadequacy: 1) they may not align with their individual nutritional requirements, thus failing to provide essential nutrients in the correct amounts, 2) while the right nutrients may be present, the ingredients could adversely affect the horse's digestive system due to incorrect processing or harmful chemicals from GMO products, 3) there may be nutrient imbalance which can impair absorption, and 4) even with proper balance, the ingredients may not be appropriate for the horse's digestive system, lacking species suitability.
Signs that your horse's diet may be unhealthy or inappropriate for the body include:
- Inability to maintain a healthy weight resulting in being either overweight or underweight.
- Persistent skin issues like mud fever, rain rot, or sunburn that don't clear up with topical treatments.
- A dull, rough coat lacking shine.
A coat and mane with faded colours (for instance, black horses showing brown areas, chestnuts appearing yellowish, bleached tips in the mane or lack of pigmentation around the face, especially near the muzzle and eyes).
- Digestive problems such as diarrhoea or frequent colic episodes.
- Signs of ulcers, like sensitivity around the girth or back area.
- Stereotypical behaviours, such as crib biting.
- Ongoing hoof problems, including thrush, white line disease, and cracks.
Nutrition is the foundation of your horse's health, without a suitable diet your horse's body can't function effectively
An inadequate diet may not show visual symptoms for several months or even years, but once signs of pain become apparent, recovery can be a lengthy process. Nutrients play a critical role in all bodily functions, including energy production, muscle development, cellular activity, and hoof growth. A deficiency in nutrients can compromise these functions and eventually lead to chronic issues.
Merely increasing food intake isn't always a solution, whether it concerns forage or supplements. It's essential to understand the underlying reasons for your horse's difficulties before devising effective solutions.
Oubaas was our beloved senior family horse who was really struggling with his health to the point where we even thought about humane euthanasia to ease his pain. He dealt with some serious issues like thrush, white line disease, rain rot, and would occasionally get mud fever. On top of that, he had a tough time keeping weight on during the winter, getting dangerously thin, even though we fed him six times a day and gave him plenty of extra hay.
We decided to give it one last shot with a custom diet before making any tough decisions. We removed all commercial feeds and GMO foods, took a good look at his diet, and added some minerals to help with absorption, plus supplements and herbs to boost his digestion. Fast forward a year and he improved drastically! He put on weight, his thrush and WLD improved, and the rain rot was almost completely gone without needing a bunch of topical treatments. The whole journey really showed me how crucial the right diet is and that proper nutrition can truly give a horse a second chance.
TrulyTrust's philosophy on nutrition centers around a holistic, species-appropriate diet tailored to meet the unique needs of each horse.
As Hippocrates said, "Let food be thy medicine and medicine thy food."
I am a firm advocate for feeding horses their natural diet, mainly composed of forage with limited grain, customised to each horse's specific requirements. Additionally, I include whole foods and herbs to enhance healing and overall health. Due to the high costs of whole foods and imbalances in hay and pasture caused by modern agriculture, achieving a balanced diet can be difficult, so I suggest incorporating mineral and vitamin supplements as needed. I focus on choosing healthy, (and where possible) non-GMO ingredients, that aid in the horse's healing journey and are processed for optimal digestion.
What the process looks like:
We begin by collecting essential information through a series of forms that you fill out for your horse. These forms help me understand your horse's needs and any concerns you may have. If, we can arrange a phone or Zoom call to discuss the diet in more detail.
Once I have all the information, I analyse the current diet to identify any deficiencies and propose a new diet aimed at achieving improvements. I then compile all the details into a PDF, providing an in-depth explanation of the diet, which I will email back to you.
After that, we maintain communication to monitor progress over the following weeks or months, depending on your horse's needs. If we don’t see the desired results, we can adjust the diet up to two additional times (included in the initial cost) to find the best approach for your horse. The fee for this service is R450 per horse (available in South Africa only).