Tag Archives: Equine Digestion

B VITAMINS IN THE EQUINE DIET

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HappyHorseHealthyPlanet.com._B Vitamin

All B vitamins help the body convert food (carbohydrates) into fuel (glucose), which is used to produce energy.  B vitamins, often referred to as B complex vitamins, also help the body use fats and protein. B complex vitamins are needed for healthy skin, hair, eyes, and liver and they also help the nervous system function properly.

Vitamins are a class of nutrients that are required in small amounts by the horse. Vitamins can be divided into two types; fat soluble and water soluble. B Vitamins are water soluble so therefore are not stored in the fat and can be more safely added to a horse’s diet without risk of toxicity.  Vitamins that are water soluble are excreted from the body on a daily basis in the urine.

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Amino Acids in the Equine Diet

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Most horse owners understand the importance of protein in a horse’s diet.  Most understand that protein is used for growth and the repair of muscle and tissues.  Few however can tell you what protein is actually made of. 

Protein is made up of Amino acids much like a wall is made of bricks. There are 22 Amino acids that constitute protein in your horse.  A horse needs all 22 to build proteins in his body. Horses get these Amino acids two ways; they make them in their body or they get them from their food. 

Grazing horses

Of the 22 Amino acids there are 10 that are called essential.  The essential Amino acids come from food.  Essential Amino acids must be provided in the diet because the horse cannot manufacture them on their own in the digestive tract. The importance of providing these essential Amino acids can be better understood when we look at the jobs they do:

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The ABCs of Equine Nutrition: An A-to-Z guide to better understanding, The Letter A

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HappyHorseHealthyPlanet_ABC-Cover2

I originally thought of this as a single blog post but after I started researching I discovered enough information for each alphabet letter to write a book!  With that idea in mind I decided to write a post each week using a different letter of the alphabet.  So at the end of 26 weeks (assuming I can find enough nutrition topics starting with X and Y!) I will have written the book! 

Some letters will have quite a few topics and others not-so-much. If you think of any topics beginning with a letter I have not covered PLEASE send them to me via email.  The more comprehensive the book is the better.

So we will take this journey together beginning with the letter A and progress through each letter discovering, explaining and learning more about the wonderful, confusing, challenging world of equine nutrition.

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Alternative Options for Stomach Ulcer Treatment & Prevention in Horses

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Equine Nutrition Nerd_Ulcer Cover

Have you noticed your usually hearty eater has become grumpy at dinner time?  Maybe pinning his ears? Eating slower or not at all?

examiner

Has your horse started swishing his tail or moving around when you tighten the girth but you have already ruled out poor saddled fit?

depaoloequineconcepts

Well you might be dealing with an equine ulcer.  Since horses can’t verbally tell us what is wrong, behavior changes are usually the first indicator that something is amiss.  Horses associate a negative result with the most recent thing that has happened so they might be associating eating with pain.  Cranky behavior around dinner time might be a sign that your horse is getting the pain of a stomach ache after eating.

If you have ever had to deal with an equine ulcer (and since 65% of horses have had them so chances are you have) then you might find this article helpful.  Even if you are lucky enough to not have had to treat an ulcer yet, it’s always good to understand all aspects of horse health.

Why Alternatives Treatments?

My journey into alternative treatment for ulcers started with a nutritional consultation for a client in California.  She was interested in finding a more natural way to treat her 10 year old Arabian gelding for his reoccurring ulcer issues. 

She is a firm believer in a natural and organic lifestyle for herself and her horse. This represented a bit of a challenge, a fun and fascinating one, but still quite a task. My traditional protocol suggests utilizing Omeprazole or another pharmaceutical treatment so to treat and prevent re-occurrence without them required viewing the equine ulcer from a different perspective.

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HELP! There’s a garbage can in my horse!

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HappyHorseHealthyPlanet_Horse Digestive Tract

You have probably read a million articles about how equine digestion works.  You’ve also probably seen the illustrations showing the parts in detail.  Have you ever looked at your horse however and wondered what exactly is where? 

I present at a lot of seminars and nutrition is a favorite topic.  I have discovered that if I use a fun way to engage the audience that I am able to teach this difficult concept at the same time.  It starts with a trip to Home Depot. Yup, you read it right.  Home Depot.

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