Clare Macleod Msc Rnutr Independent Equine Nutritionist

Very useful info from David Marlin

The data isn't yet reliable, but interesting results from tracking equine behaviour.
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.11 11/evj.13130

It is heartening when action is taken over companies who mislead consumers. There are plenty of companies who aren't honest or ethical in the horse feed industry (there are also plenty who are :-)) so it continues to be 'buyer beware'. It takes someone to make a complaint against an unethical company, either to the ASA, Trading Standards or the Veterinary Medicines Directorate, for action to be taken against that company. Buyer Beware!
https://www.asa.org.uk/ru…/equidiet--uk --ltd-a18-449762.html

A tip for feed companies: If you market a feed as 'lower starch' it would be very useful to list the % starch on your website info along with the nutrient spec.

With all this talk and discussion about overweight horses and ponies, I had a different sort of Consultation client yesterday. She struggles to keep weight on her horse so we talked just as much about calories (dietary energy) but how to maximise intake instead of reducing! Pic is of my mare hedge snacking...she picked out cleavers, blackberry leaves and cow parsley 😋 For those who asked what enrichment was - this is an example! (And it's not necessarily relevant to the first half of this post!!).

Tamzon Furtado at the University of Liverpool along with The Horse Trust has put together an excellent leaflet on Equine Weight Management, which I gave a little input to. You can request one when you book up a Consultation visit from me, or access via https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/equine/common -conditions/weight/ Ignore the box below and click on the website address, which works!

Note!!!: please read my pinned post before you post!!!!
Here's a few weight (fat) loss facts for horses for this morning:
Horses use up body fat when they take in less calories than they need, so they break down their body fat stores.
... You can cause calorie deficit without starving the horse - we are not talking about starvation here, we're talking about getting the horse back to a healthy body condition
Calorie restriction for a fat horse in the UK will involve grass restriction and may involve restricting the amount of forage IF you cannot source very low calorie forage. You do not need to restrict to the point you cause hormonal-induced stress.
Your horse will not lose body fat regardless of which system you implement or product you feed if they are not in calorie deficit. Hence why I stress the need for owners of overweight horses to focus on their body fat levels first.
Some track systems no matter how much movement they promote still supply too much grass for horses to maintain a healthy bodyweight (generally ad lib grass track systems).
Soaking hay for 10-12 hours, using a grazing muzzle, using a track system with limited grass availability, increasing exercise (if the horse can or is able to), replacing a third of the hay with clean, unsprayed straw are all strategies that might help body fat loss. Different regimes will suit different horses or owners and you pick what is practical, what works and what you are happy with.
Excess body fat is much more harmful than the downsides of the above (soaking hay, grazing muzzle etc).

See More

Thank you for all your messenger messages! I've been rather inundated and I have a couple of client Reports from Consultation visits to finish this evening, so thank you for your patience with my replies, which may take a day or two.

Hello everyone! I'm pinning this post so that my page can be a more pleasant place for all of you and myself. You are welcome to comment on my page but before you do, please make sure you can follow my requests:
Please be polite to myself and others.
Please do not give out advice even if asked, regardless of your qualifications or experience. You are welcome to post your experiences or what you like or don't like, but do not give others advice. If you do, your post may be d...eleted immediately without warning.
I'm not interested in how much you know. If you want to show that, I recommend you set up your own page. My page is primarily for those who wish to learn more about equine nutrition and health, and who might be interested in the consultancy services I offer.
Please read my post (or anyone's comments) thoroughly before you post. It's easy to misinterpret information and get the wrong end of the stick. If you do, I may ask you to reread the post so please don't be offended if I do.
You may disagree with what I have to say and you're welcome to voice this but please do so in a polite way. This page might not suit you and/or you might not like the information on it. If that's the case, then please unfollow or unlike.
I run a Nutrition Consultancy business which means I earn my living from selling my expertise and my time, not by selling feed/supplement products. For that reason you will not find all the answers on this page, and it's not appropriate to ask for specific feeding advice for your individual horse or pony. If that were the case, I would soon be out of business! Please email me to clare@equinenutritionist.co.uk if you would like bespoke advice for your horse or pony.
If you are rude you may find yourself blocked with immediate effect because I have a zero tolerance policy with bad manners.
If you want to find out more about my qualifications and experience please visit www.equinenutritionist.co.uk.
Thank you for taking the time to read this information.
See More

Here are some tips for getting a horse to lose weight (fat) - you have to adjust for an individual case so there is no one easy answer. This is a guideline for good doers in light work (this is not relevant to horses in moderate to hard work) and it may need adjusting for your individual horse or pony:
1. You must reduce calorie intake. You will in most cases need to restrict grass. How much you restrict depends entirely on your individual horse's body fat level and if they a...re losing weight (or not). Ideally, source a low energy forage so you can feed ad lib. Don't assume a meadow hay will cause fat loss when fed ad lib - it's unlikely to. If in any doubt, soak the hay for 10-12 hours if the calorie content is high enough that you need to restrict to the point of making your horse fast for more than 4 hours at a time to ensure their calories are restricted enough. Soaking hay is not ideal but it might be the only practical way to do this. If you can, steam after soaking. You could feed straw (organic unsprayed is best) but you need to take advice on this (amounts, balancing etc).
2 Do not rely on a track system because it may provide too much grass (but it may be ideal if it is surfaced).
3.Back to restricting grass - you might strip graze or use a grazing muzzle. Many horses get used to grazing muzzles and although they are not ideal, their downsides are better than the health problems guaranteed by chronic obesity.
4. Implement as much exercise as possible and within your horse's fitness capabilities.
5.Don't forget to feed a correctly balanced diet (vitamins, minerals, good quality protein) - you may need to take advice on this.
There is a lot to this but the most important factor BY FAR is to monitor your individual horse or pony and keep adjusting. It's so important not to just think you've started on a supplement, strip grazed etc or put up a track system and all that means they will be fine.
See More

That was fiery response I had to my post about strategies to maintaining a healthy horse in terms of body fat levels! Sadly I had to block a few folk for being rude. I had a few requests for more information of 'what to do' because my post was more of a 'don't rely on...' (it was not a post of 'what not to do').
It seems that this is a emotive area! I posted about this because I have seen a worrying trend of owners who have implemented strategies that they think/have been tol...d will keep their horse healthy, yet they are still fat and/or get laminitis.
So onto 'How do I keep my horse at a healthy bodyweight if they're prone to weight gain'?
The answer in theory is simple - maintain a balanced energy (calorie) intake. Reduce calorie intake and increase expenditure (one or the other or a combo of both) to reduce body fat then maintain to maintain that body fat level. Body fat is simply a storage for calories.
The answer in practice is much more complicated. For more info read my next post! thank you!
See More

Please do not give out advice on this page. It is strictly not allowed. I am liable for the information on this page and your posts of advice will be removed (no matter what your qualifications are). If you wish to give out advice please set up your own page to do so. Thank you for complying with this rule, which is for the benefit of my followers, and for the integrity of my Consultancy business.
If you wish to discuss, please make it clear that 'such and such worked for your horse' or 'you think that'....NOT that something is a fact.

I'll say it again since some may have thought I got something wrong. Your horse or pony could still be too fat on a grass track system with only organic feeds/supplements. I have seen this scenario time and time again. It is wrong for companies and owners to promote this as a guarantee of a healthy horse. It is not.

There is no shortcut to improved health for an overweight horse with too much body fat. Not herbs, not minerals, not going organic, not an ad lib grass track system, not massage, not medication, not an extra walk-out round the block a few times per week. The only answer is body fat loss. This occurs from a negative energy balance aka calorie deficit. The aforementioned things may help but are secondary to the calorie deficit that causes body fat to be used up. Exercise does help but generally you need dietary interventions as well. I speak from a. understanding physiology and nutrition and b. From decades of experience

😂

With all this grass sprouting like mad, please share your grazing-muzzle success stories with pictures. There was excellent discussion on my previous grass post about muzzles, so I thought a dedicated post would be worthwhile! Thank you!

If you're looking for this, I've got some bad news for you, and some good news.
Bad news first. You won't find it. It doesn't exist. You might think you've found it, then you'll realise it doesn't work as you expected, longer term.
Good news now. You don't need it. There's no secret fix like so many ads want to make you believe. But that doesn't mean there's an easy solution. Most worthwhile things - like getting fitter yourself, as a rider, like keeping your horse in a sli...m condition - take consistent, persistent effort.
Rather than wasting time looking for that oh-so-elusive silver bullet, make a plan, stick to it, get support (and give support!), if you fail - get back on track, be kind to yourself, develop great patience, believe in yourself, accept what you really cannot change, and never give up.
See More