Posted: 22nd July 2020 | Back to news feed
Gastrointestinal health in horses is a hot topic with owners today and at Haygain we encourage you to proactively maintain the optimal gastrointestinal health of your horse by feeding them Haygain steamed hay.
Colic is a general term referring to abdominal pain, which could have a variety of causes and is a common problem that can affect horses of all ages. It can be the result of changes to feeding regime, internal parasites, poor grazing, excessive stress and exercise after eating, dehydration, the list of potential causes is endless.
We know that horses evolved on a different diet from the one they’re expected to eat today and the manner in which horses eat and the time they spend eating has changed considerably.
Plenty of water and a high forage intake are essential for a healthy GI tract. Hydration is necessary to digest the large amounts of fibre that horses need to consume on a daily basis. The average horse eating 9kg of food each day requires a minimum of 20-40 litres of water just to digest that feed. This does not include the necessary water for other body functions. Additionally, if the horse is exercised, the water demands are increased even further.
A horse can lose up to 5% of his body weight in fluids before showing any actual signs of dehydration and while it will undoubtedly affect a horse’s performance it can also be life-threatening. Dehydration can also make respiratory diseases such as Inflammatory Airway Disease much worse.
A simple way to help horses maintain their hydration and reduce respiratory diseases is by steaming their forage. When hay is steamed with the Haygain hay steamer, you increase the moisture content three-fold and also improve palatability and hygiene by killing the 99% of bacteria and mould spores.
Haygain steamers are easy to use and with a variety of sizes can suit the one-horse owner or the biggest professional competition yard.
To find out more about the health benefits for your competition horse call the Haygain customer service department on 01488 854005.
Find out more at www.haygain.co.uk
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