RED DEER – Horse owners are urged to seriously consider probiotics when looking for products to improve their animals’ health.
David Craig, who sells equine supplements, told the recent Mane Event horse fair in Red Deer that owners must be discerning when buying probiotics and make sure they are buying live material.
Proper storage and handling are critical because probiotics are live organisms, similar to bacteria and yeast.
He said horse owners can use them to resolve and prevent metabolic issues in the digestive system, but balance is important.
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High performance horses can undergo considerable stress, which Craig said appears to be a major cause of metabolic problems. These horses are athletes and need proper nutrition for their level of activity.
Horse digestion may also be upset by age, bad weather, mouldy feed, worming products, loose teeth and antibiotic therapy that may have killed the good and bad bacteria in the gut.
Starved and abused horses can benefit from probiotics, although some animals deteriorate so badly that they lose their will to eat.
Olds College equine nutritionist Wendy Johnston also sees the benefits of supplements, but she said a normal horse receiving a well balanced diet probably doesn’t need them.
“It is a supplement, so you would definitely assume you are going to get better results,” she said.
“Is there any proof that if you feed your horse a really well balanced high plane of nutrition in its daily diet, are you not going to get the same results?” she said.
Horse owners can use supplements to achieve specific goals and may contain a variety of minerals, vitamins and products such as rice bran, kelp, flax seed and enzymes for improved digestion of sugars.
“Some may contain very good quality proteins, but if we are feeding really good quality alfalfa hay or we are adding soybean meal to our feed or more of the higher quality proteins with lysine levels in them, I am skeptical,” she said.
Supplements can be expensive, and Johnston advises horse owners to read labels. They can obtain further advice from nutritionists and veterinarians to make sure their horses are fed properly.
“You really have to look at the labels and look at what you are feeding and what your goals are,” she said.
Probiotics seem to help improve digestion, but digestive upsets are unlikely for horses receiving a good quality diet.
“If I had a horse that had gastric ulcers or was prone to colic or had some problems with its metabolism that would benefit from a probiotic, I think I would probably use it,” Johnston said.
“Unless my horse had some digestive issues, I wouldn’t use it for a recreational horse.”
Horses need minerals and vitamins, especially fat soluble compounds such as vitamins A, B, C, D and K.
“As your hay ages over the course of the winter, those vitamins are depleted so a general vitamin-mineral supplement should normally be provided for your horse, especially if you are feeding plain grains like oats because the level of vitamins in those types of feeds is very low,” she said.
Salt and mineral blocks can be placed in the field for added benefit. A geriatric horse needs extra calcium in its diet.
She also recommended allowing only short-term grazing before easing horses into full-time foraging this spring. Lush green grass encourages horses to gorge themselves, which could result in problems.
“Regular management of your horse is extremely important: having its teeth checked, making sure it is dewormed on a regular basis, make sure it has had its vaccinations so it is protected from different disease that could cause illness,” she said.
