Growing Horses Nutritionist Q&A

▼SUPPLEMENTATION FOR CONTRACTED TENDONS: Customer: “I am looking at Equine Leg Magic. I have a 2-year old that was born with contracted tendons. We got him over it after a long 6-month battle and now he has strained his leg and one of his legs has re-contracted. My Vet asked me, “You have had him on Vitamin E and Selenium supplements, right?”… umm he is on the turned out program (Whoops) SO I need to get him on supplements as well as a hoof trimming regiment. I called the Equine Leg Magic lady and she said that there was not much selenium in the product and that I could supplement with Selenium and Vitamin E, but to be careful with the trace minerals as to not overdose them on those. I just talked to Ty and she mentioned you have a Vitamin E, Selenium supplement that may work real well with this product. Any insight?”
Answer by Ph.D. Equine Nutritionist, Kelsey Johnson Nonella: When it comes to selenium and vitamin E, they are very important for bone and tendon development. If he has been turned out, I can almost assure you that he is selenium deficient. If he has been on green pasture he is probably not vitamin E deficient. However, just coming out of winter, if he was on hay, the vitamin E oxidizes and in turn is not available to the horse making them vitamin E deficient. Our vitamin E and Organic Selenium product would be great for him. It provide him with a higher daily dose of selenium than any other vitamin E and selenium product which is crucial for areas that are as deficient as the Northwest. Even if he doesn’t weight 1000 lb yet, I would feed him a full 2 ounces which will provide him with 3 mg of organic selenium and 5000 mg of vitamin E. This product would help him a ton.
◄FEEDING HORSE GUARD TO MY FOAL: Customer: “At what age foal can you start feeding Horse Guard?”
Answer by Ph.D. Equine Nutritionist, Kelsey Johnson Nonella: If the mare is receiving Horse Guard I would start the foal when you wean the foal because he is getting selenium from his mother’s milk. However, if the mare is deficient or it is an orphan foal you can supplement them right right away. Just feed the dose according to his weight. For example, if you estimate he weighs 250 when you wean him feed a 1/4 of a scoop.
◄FEEDING A FOAL?: Customer: “Is it okay to feed to three month old foal? If so what amount?”
Answer from Equine Nutritionist, Del Johnson: Yes it is OK to feed foals. You will feed by weight as with all horses. Horse Guard is fed at 1 ounce per 500 lbs. So if the foal is on a creep feed to supplement the mare’s milk you will feed by the weight of the foal. If he is 100 lbs you would feed about 1/5th of an ounce per day.
◄SUPPLEMENTS FOR AN ORPHAN FOAL: Customer: “Hello, recently my mare passed (Postpartum colon torsion) and left behind her 5 1/2 week old foal. I am feeding Foalac milk replacer as her primary food source (she gets pasture turn out during the day in nice weather, grass hay & a mash or Equine Senior + Alfalfa pellets) I have no previous experience with orphan foals and I am concerned she needs some type of vitamin/mineral supplement and would like to know what you would recommend. (All of the horses on the farm get Horse Guard) I could not find on the Horse Guard bag or website where it addresses the “orphan foal” issue or dosages. Thank you in advance for your attention in this matter & I look forward to hearing your reply.
Answer by Ph.D. Equine Nutritionist, Kelsey Johnson Nonella: Sorry to hear about your mare. The Foalac milk replacer has a good calcium: phosphorous ratio which is extremely important in growing foals. However, it is low in selenium. So, supplementing her with Horse Guard would be a good idea. The dosage is 1 ounce per 500 lbs, and needs to be adjusted to her weight. So if she weighs about 150lbs, feed her 1/3 of an ounce or about 1/6 of the 2 oz scoop provided.
◄SUPPLEMENTING MY FUTURITY PROSPECT: Customer: “I’m looking for a supplement to make sure our yearling gets the right start. I’ll be getting our new hay tested, but the old tests very low in selenium especially. It sure looks like Horse Guard is the way to go. I was wondering if you would be willing to look at our hay tests annually to make sure we are not overdoing OR lacking. This filly was a much bigger investment than I’ve ever made, I don’t have much experience with feeding youngsters, and we are aiming her for 2020 barrel futurities. I definitely do not want ODD issues and am a bit gunshy about over supplementing. We are in Fairfield, ID. Thanks!”
Answer by Ph.D. Equine Nutritionist, Kelsey Johnson Nonella: I would be more than happy to look at your hay analysis. Horse guard would be perfect for your yearling. It will ensure her vitamin/mineral needs are met while making sure to not provide excess energy.
◄WEIGHT AND MUSCLE GAIN IN YEARLINGS: Customer: “Hello, I am trying to find the “right” answer of what is best to feed a warmblood yearling to get them ready to show in hand. I am basically feeding them maximum of the feed I am feeding plus a fat supplement and they are not building weight, or muscle. I don’t want to add too much. Currently, they are on Triple Crown Complete and Buckeye Ultimate Finish 25% fat, free choice first cutting mixed grass hay (this mixture of feed was told to me by a Hunter Breeder Handler and a vet-approved it, but it isn’t working out for me). Could I add beet pulp or should I change entirely what they are on?”
Answer by Ph.D. Equine Nutritionist, Dr. Kelsey Johnson Nonella: If I were you I would make sure that your horses are receiving a vitamin-mineral supplement that ensures that they are receiving 3 mg of organic selenium per day. When reading an ingredient label make sure that selenium yeast is the source of selenium, not sodium selenite. I would also consider they may benefit from prebiotics and probiotics. Feeding Super Weight Gain would provide your horse with a vitamin mineral supplement, prebiotics and probiotics, and fat and protein. Unfortunately, not that isn’t one “right” diet for horses. Each horse can respond differently to different diets. The addition of Super Weight Gain to your horses’ current feeding regime might be the missing link.

Growing Horses Nutritionist Q&A

Growing Horses Nutritionist Q&A

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