Posted: 17th December 2014 | Back to news feed
HorseHage dust-free bagged forage offers four varieties to suit all types of horses and ponies, from a laminitic Shetland to a top, four-star event horse.
Both the High Fibre and Timothy options can be safely fed to laminitic horses and ponies as the sugar content can be lower than a lot of hays. These varieties are also ideal for equines that are convalescing, resting or in light work.
Ryegrass HorseHage is a good choice for horses that need a little more from their forage and the Alfalfa variety is suitable for those in very hard work or breeding and young stock.
International event rider, Mary King, understands the importance of good forage and feeds High Fibre HorseHage to her team of event horses.
Said Mary, “I find that HorseHage offers many benefits compared to hay or ordinary haylage – it’s dust-free which is vital for maintaining a healthy respiratory tract and preventing conditions such as RAO (Recurrent Airway Obstruction).This is especially important when your horse has to be stabled for extended periods of time, as most of mine are, and essential for any horse or pony that competes.”
“HorseHage also contains no chemicals, additives or flavourings and due to the fermentation process that takes place inside the bag, it has a sugar level of 5% or below which is considerably lower than most other forages. I like this variety because it is low in protein, sugar and starch which means you can feed more during the day replicating the horses’ little-and-often method of feeding out in the wild.”
Mary weighs her HorseHage and feeds from a HorseHage Net allowing her to monitor exactly what the horses are having, so that she can adjust the quantity according to their body condition and work load.
Said Mary, “As a rule they have 10lb nets twice daily, but the slimmer horses may get 12lb and the chubbier ones 8lb twice daily, or a 6lb net in the morning and an 8lb one in the evening. This is in addition to the grass they eat when turned out.”
The importance of high quality forage should never be underestimated. Horses have evolved as trickle feeders with a small stomach and very large, bacteria-filled hind gut, designed to contend with an almost continuous supply of grass and associated herbage. Therefore their dietary requirements should focus on forage, supplemented by hard feed only when necessary (ie. if more energy or more weight gain is required). Your horse’s fitness level should also be assessed before feeding for more energy as 99% of horses lacking in energy (unless under-weight) is due to a schooling problem rather than a feeding one. HorseHage is highly digestible, allowing efficient utilisation of the available nutrients and can potentially enable you to reduce your horse’s hard feed by up to a third.
For more information on feeding your horse or pony, please contact the HorseHage Helpline on 01803 527257 or visit www.horsehage.co.uk
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