Did you know that there are literally hundreds of different proteins in a horse’s body? Dr. Juliet Getty offers this mini-lesson to help the horse owner or caretaker understand the importance of feeding high-quality protein to optimize the horse’s...
By Bryan Waldridge, DVMFew sights are worse than the tragedy of malnourished or starved horses. It is important to consider that not all underweight horses are the victims of abuse or neglect. Occasionally, horses may have or be recovering...
Horses evolved as wandering herbivores, moving slowly for hours and taking bites of whatever forage they came across in their rambles.Modern feeding practice is quite different, with many horses given all-day access to rich forage, an invitation to obesity....
True or
false? Horses don’t need as much hay during the night because they sleep.
False,
and dangerous. Equine nutrition expert Dr. Juliet Getty frequently has
to bust this myth. Believe the facts:Horses are awake and moving most...
Q: I
have an 11-year-old Appaloosa gelding that is overweight. I rode him every day
during the summer and he didn't really lose any weight. We've had a drought for
the past few months, so there's not much grazing in his pasture,...
The horse’s stomach should be empty while exercising to avoid digestive upset. Truth or myth?
Myth. Mostly.
We don’t feel comfortable exercising after a large meal and we therefore assume that our horses don’t either. But define a “meal.” We generally...
A full-sized horse does best on a diet that offers 1 to 6 mg of iodine each day to keep his thyroid gland working properly. Because the iodine content of grass is too low to measure, it is best...
Most horse owners know that rich grass, especially the fresh grass that grows in the spring, can be dangerous in large quantities. Overconsumption of starches and fructan, a sugar present in many grasses, can lead to laminitis, leading many...
