To conclude, when understanding horse nutrition, the origins of the horse have to be taken into consideration: the horse is a herbivore, living in symbiosis with a microbial flora which allows him to digest cellulose.
He evolved over millions of years on huge grassy plains, eating small but frequent fibre rich meals. In the wild, the horse was prey, escaping through flight, hence his exceptional athletic abilities.
Man then tamed him, using him in different ways and turning him into his companion.
In any event, we have considerably changed his lifestyle. For example, sometimes horses may be confined to their stables up to 23 hours a day when originally, a horses’ lifestyle was synonymous with continual movement. These “new” living conditions are often the source of a number of stressful situations from which the horse cannot flee. We know that unfortunately it is not easy to leave the horse outdoors throughout the year.
However, it is within everyone's reach to respect his status as a herbivore and to “feed his flora” by providing ad-lib forage.
By doing this, we guarantee a healthy digestion, mind-set and thus, proper functioning of his entire organism. Consequently, providing ad-lib forage must be the first point to be considered when discussing horse nutrition and this, well before concentrate feeds!
Nowadays, the horse is considered as an athlete, able to take part in a number of disciplines : jumping, racing, etc. He must therefore be fed as such in order to be able to fully show his potential.
Also, as you will have become aware of through this guide, we do our utmost to provide all the essential nutrients absent or deficient in forage, in order to meet his requirements as an athlete. We use the best ingredients on the market, those best suited to horses. Indeed, the elaboration of our feeds is based on the traditional feeding practises of man over centuries, without by-products derived from the agri-food industry, and also making use of recent scientific data. For this reason, we can call our nutritional concept “Traditional next generation”.
Finally, if you must remember only one clear message on the subject of industrial feeds, this is it : “read the labels!”.
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