After a summer of rain-shine weather we have until now been managing abundant grass in our equine’s pastures. Now as the weather turns toward autumn, the pasture growth is noticeably declining alongside the likely imminent arrival of mud! During the autumn and winter months the grazing quality wanes and the need to provide conserved forage, and in some cases a hard-feed, increases. In our latest blog Scientific Nutritional Products takes a look at nutrition and equine management for autumn.
Diet
Forage is the most important aspect of our horse’s diet to maintain a healthy, mobile gut and to keep their digestive system functioning correctly. As the grazing transitions from richer to sparser conditions assess your equine’s weight and muscle tone and adjust their ration of hay or haylage accordingly. A concentrated feed and a supplement may also be necessary as a balanced diet incorporates vital vitamins and minerals which may not be prevalent as the grazing diminishes. Vitamins and minerals found in supplements such as Horse & Pony Multivitamin Supplement from Scientific Nutritional Products play an essential role in the body including supporting the immune system, bone and teeth structure, benefitting eyesight and assisting nerve and muscle functioning.
Exercise
As the clocks change and shorter daylight hours arrive it can be tempting to reduce your horse’s exercise routine. Whilst sometimes this is necessary, where possible keeping your equine’s active with regular exercise is preferable. Consider lunging or long reining when time is short and try and hack at the weekend if you are needing to stick to riding in the sandschool during the week.
Stable Management
In most cases turnout in autumn time will need to reduce. Any routine change in regard to turnout should be done gradually to avoid causing stress. The fields can often become muddier so keeping a close eye for signs of mud fever is important as well as regularly picking out your horse’s feet which can be affected by damp, muddy conditions. Help protect your equine's skin againt wet and mud with Mud Manager from Scientific Nutrional Products. It contains the imporantant Chelated Zinc and Biotin to help renew cracked and sore skin protecting against wet muddy conditions.
Also feeding Horse & Pony Multi-vitamins available from Scientific Nutritional Products offers a perfect autumnal dietary supplement including over 25 essential vitamins and minerals. Horse & Pony Multi-vitamin Supplement is available from www.horsesupplementsdirect.co.uk. For more information visit the website or contact a member of our team free on 0800 032 7774
