Nutritional Advice

Introduction

During their evolution horses grazed for about sixteen hours a day on a pure roughage diet. Left to their own devices they still do so today. Their digestive systems are therefore suited to little and often feeding and the best feeding programmes are based on this principle.

Unfortunately the pressures of modern life often make it hard to give horses frequent, small feeds and many problems occur when horses are fed large quantities of cereal-based feeds.

TopSpec Feed Balancers contain concentrated amounts of nutrients in a small amount of feed, allowing more forage to be fed throughout the day, creating a more natural way of feeding that is in harmony with the horse’s digestive system.

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Offer Ample Forage

Forage, whether in the form of grass, haylage or hay should usually be offered ad-lib to horses and ponies. Doing this ensures that the all-important microflora (mainly bacteria) in the hindgut have a constant supply of fibre to digest, resulting in a consistent fermentation pattern. This consistency means that your horse is much less likely to suffer from the many problems that can result from an upset in the microbial balance.

Naturally the type of grass/haylage/hay that you offer your horse needs to be chosen with your horse’s requirements in mind. For example, a hard working event horse is often suited by ryegrass haylage, whereas a really good-doer in light work may need late-cut, high-fibre meadow hay.

Time spent chewing long-fibre or chops has both physical and mental benefits.

Keep Bucket Feeds Small

Keep an eye on condition

In most cases do not add supplements

Quantities to be fed

Most TopSpec Feed Balancers should be fed at a rate of 100g balancer/100kg ideal bodyweight daily. The following table will help you to decide how much to feed to your horses or ponies. (As a guide a half-pint mug holds approximately 200g of any TopSpec Feed Balancer). Free measures are available from all stockists. Please refer to the sack or to our Multiple-Award-Winning Helpline for feeding rates of TopSpec Stud Feed Balancer, TopSpec Stud Lite feed Balancer and TopSpec Racing Feed Balancer as they are fed at higher rates.

Horse/Pony Weight (kgs)	Typical Height	Type	Recommended Daily Rate
250	10-12hh Small Pony	Shetland, Dartmoor, Welsh Sec A	250g
375	12.2-14.2hh Pony	Connemara, New Forest, Fell, Welsh Sec B and C, Show Hunter Pony	375g
500	15-16hh Horse	Thoroughbred, Thoroughbred X, Arab, Arab X, Welsh Cob, Connemara X, Eventer	500g
625	16.2-17.2hh Large Horse	Thoroughbred X, Warmblood, Sportshorse	625g

View Important Points

Important Points

As with all new feeds TopSpec products should always be introduced gradually over a period of four days, starting with approximately one quarter of the amount you intend to feed by day four. TopSpec feed balancers can be fed with forage alone or with your choice of straights/blends and/or compound feeds.

The diet of sweating horses must be supplemented with additional salt, especially if feed intake is low. All horses should have access to a salt-lick 24/7 but common table salt should be added to the feed of sweating horses daily.

We are frequently asked if garlic can be fed with TopSpec, the answer is yes, for any herb.