Here is a picture of Ali and Felix jumping
Hello, Team Joyce are starting another new venture! KER ( Kentucky Equine Research ) are the professionals in nutrition for horses/ponies. They know exactly what you should feed and how much should be given each day to meet your individual horses needs depending on your horses breed, age metabolism and your chosen discipline and how much work you give your horse/pony. This varies for every single horse because we all do different things so it is very important to feed specifically to meet individual requirements and try to obtain the very best out of your animal. Feed is very costly and most of us have little knowledge of how much we feed or what we are giving our horses. We just scoop the feed into the bucket and walk away. We also visually see and think ” Oh that’s enough”, without really knowing what we are giving our horses. We have no real concept of vitamins and minerals and the nutritional value of what we are feeding nor do we really have the time to really understand it.
Well Team Joyce have a simple answer for everyone. With little fuss and worry you can have a simple, easy to read nutritional plan specifically designed for your horse/pony. Luisa Wood from KER is a lady who just thrives on sorting out dietary needs. Luisa is a professional and knows exactly what the necessities are and how not to waste your money on feed that will not give you the results you hope for!
Now where to start, once again its very simple and easy. You know your horse better than anyone so filing out a data analysis sheet will take no time and at all. Once you have filled it out, send it off and wait. That simple…..Luisa will look at it and send back a full sheet with valuable information on what to feed, why and with the amounts! Done…..now its up to you. You have plenty to gain because you will not be wasting your hard earnt money on over feeding , you will be giving exactly what is required , their diet will be well balanced providing all the energy , protein and essential vitamins and trace minerals they require to feel and look their very best and in turn cope with what you expect of them either in competition or pleasure!
Ok so click on the link below, it will open an online sheet for you to fill out, very simple questions. If you are unsure of what your horse/pony weighs you can buy a weight tape from Pakenham Produce & Saddlery as they stock them or your local feed or saddler store. These weight tapes are not as accurate as scales however an estimate is all you require. It is very important to be aware of your horses weight for worming and feeding purposes. Weight tapes are not expensive and should be an important part of everyone’s tack box.
Once you have submitted the form ( via email to Luisa – lwood@ker.com ) Luisa will reply via email in a few days. Using KER’s dietary analysis software, Microsteed, she will analyse your horse’s current diet, check for deficiencies and excesses in nutrients, and send through a suggested diet that simply and effectively corrects these imbalances. Diets are displayed using graphical representation which shows imbalances in a clear and simple way.
Online Diet Analysis Request 1Form ( email it to lwood@ker.com )
This month Team Joyce are associating our balanced diet regime with Ali Petitt and her horse Felix.
Felix
Firstly a huge Congratulations to Ali & Felix placing 4th on the weekend at a One Day Event at Albury! “WELL DONE”
This is from Ali
Ali has a thoroughbred, a 9 yo who is not a very good doer. Right now he is getting 3 biscuits of Lucerne chaff a day, 2 scoops of Lucerne chaff and a scoop of pollard and a scoop of copra, (blue scoop like we have at home= 1.3kg). Morning and night with Joint Formula. At present he is being ridden about 5 times a week in medium work, little sweaty after riding. She events him and wants to make sure he is fit enough to work towards competing Prelim but training at Pre Novice now. He used to get rice bran oil but she hasn’t got any since moving up here also he didn’t need to be hard fed at home and if he did have a hard feed it was just Mitavite extra cool.
Below is an outline of what Ali fed Felix daily
This is the Intake Graph below which is a result of all Ali’s feed written above into the Microsteed system.
This diet displays that there is a deficiency in sodium (Na) and chloride (Cl) (salt) where the blue arrow is and deficiencies in most of the important minerals and vitamins, where the dark blue circle is. This diet also shows that some of the nutrients are displayed at what looks like excessive amounts, such as calcium (Ca) at 193% and magnesium (Mg) at 196%.
Below is an Intake graph for a diet for a nine year old TB event horse that is not correctly balanced.
INTAKE GRAPH-meaning the results of what Ali is feeding Felix
An explanation of the graph above:
Each bar is divided up to show specific ingredients, eg- Calcium ( Ca ) Iron ( I ) magnesium ( M ), and many more and these are written along the bottom of the graph and the columns are in different colours which show how they add to the nutrients supplied by the total diet.
Recommended amounts should all be at or close to 100% ( as seen on the vertical line showing the percentages ) in an ideal world but because horses have different tolerances to different nutrients, there are some cases where the actual amount may be well over or under 100% of recommendations for each nutrient.
To demonstrate these different tolerance levels, a second graph called an Acceptable Ranges chart is used. Here, all the diet constituents are plotted on a ‘traffic light scale’ with the centre blue range being optimal and then in either direction the green, yellow and red ranges indicating whether excesses or deficiencies are acceptable, whether they represent an actual excess or deficiency and whether that excess or deficiency falls within the unacceptable red range.
Below is the same diet displayed using the Acceptable Ranges graph. The deficiencies in salt, trace minerals and vitamins can be seen by these nutrients being in the unacceptable red range. However, the nutrients such as calcium and magnesium that looked to be being provided in excess, are still in the green ‘acceptable’ range.
The outcome of the acceptable ranges of what Ali was feeding Felix
In order to correct the deficiencies in this diet, Luisa recommended the following diet for this horse. The diet contains forage (pasture, hay and chaff), KER Low GI Cube, salt and KER Restore for electrolyte supplementation.
Ali and Felix doing Cross-country
Recommendations for Ali’s TB
The lucerne hay and chaff Ali’s horse is receiving is ideal for ensuring he is consuming at least 1.5% of his body weight in forage daily.
– The first attached diet for Ali’s horse displays the diet he is currently receiving. Because copra and pollard are feed ingredients and do not contain adequate nutrients to support a working horse, the diet displays deficiencies in most trace minerals and vitamins that are important for achieving optimum health and performance. In order to correct this I have recommended feeding 4kgs of KER Low GI Cube daily. KER Low GI Cube is a low starch, fully fortified low glycaemic feed with slow release energy which is ideal for performance horses. The low levels of starch and high levels of fat and digestible fibre as an alternate energy source result in KER Low GI Cube producing a lower glycaemic response and achieving cool energy for work. Low GI Cube is fully fortified with all the nutrients Ali’s horse requires, provided he receives at least 2kgs daily. Up to 5kgs of Low GI daily could be fed daily if required.
– Salt and KER Restore has also been recommended for Ali’s horse for electrolyte replacement. Because sodium and chloride (salt) are the only two minerals horses will realise they need and actively seek out, the best way to ensure they are consuming the required amount is to give them access to a plain white, free choice salt block in their paddock. Alternatively, around 30g daily of plain un-iodised table salt added to feeds is ideal. Electrolytes are also essential for working horses and KER Restore is ideal as it has been formulated to mimic the composition of horse’s sweat, so the minerals lost during work or travel are replaced in the correct proportions. I would recommend Ali’s horse has Restore included in his diet on days he works hard and sweats.
What is recommended by Luisa Wood from Ker
As displayed both in the Intake graph and the Acceptable Ranges graph below, this diet is well balanced and meeting requirements for energy, protein and all vitamins and trace minerals that are important for achieving optimum health and performance.
Graph results of Ali’s diet
Look how even the acceptable ranges appear
So email your chart to lwood@ker.com today and start feeding the correct feed to your horse/pony!
Luisa Wood
Nutrition Advisor
Kentucky Equine Research (Australasia) Pty Ltd
7/35 Dunlop Rd, MULGRAVE VIC 3170
Ph. (03) 8562 7000
Fax (03) 8562 7007
Cell: +61 400 106 334
Nutrition Consultation Service: 1800 772 198
Websites: www.ker.com
If you wish to read other news about Team Joyce :https://lalshaven.au/archives/