Horse Health :: Everything Horse :: Magazine
Question: Is bad pasture making your horse fat? Often, bad pasture is associated with high worm counts, lameness and/or a lack of weight. However, fat, or obese horses may not be at the forefront of our mind, as overly rich pasture may be thought of as the course of this.
Modern farming methods have reduced the range of plants to a critical point. The loss of biodiversity means the average horse pasture may well lack important phytonutrients linked to healthy metabolism. As a result, horses may have excessive weight gain, together with a ‘cresty’ neck and fat pads on the neck, quarters and around the sheath.
But How?
All wild plants contain levels of ecdysterones, these important phytonutrients act on the mammalian endocrine system, increasing metabolism and reducing glucose. This is essential for your horse to be able to take the most out of his, or her pasture.
As plant eaters, horses have evolved to require a wide range of phytonutrients that act as anti-oxidants improving health and vitality. Phytonutrients also offer ecdysterones, which help the metabolism cope with carbohydrate and glucose intake.
2019 was an especially difficult year for many horses, the UK winter was mild, and the grass just kept on growing. If your horse is struggling with excessive weight gain it could well be time to check the phytonutrient content of the diet and find out what is going on in the hind gut.
How to Find Out What’s Going On in Your Horse
The EquiBiome Test Kit will allow you to check the phytonutrient content of the diet, alongside what’s going on in the horse’s hind gut.
The kit is ordered online at equibiome.org and once it arrives simply follow the instructions and return your horse’s faecal sample for testing. You will then receive a detailed report with recommendations to improve your horse’s gut health and help him to maintain a healthy weight.
With the right management, based on facts and not guesswork, your horse’s gut health and weight can be improved. For further information or to order an EquiBiome Test Kit please visit equibiome.org and follow the ‘EquiBiome’ page on Facebook.
Suzanne Ashton, Founder of Everything Horse (Est, 2012), has a BA Hons in Marketing Management and a Diploma in Equine Science. Suzanne has ridden and owned horses all her life and has twelve years of experience in marketing, writing, design, SEO, and website creation.
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