Spillers Horse Feeds Happy Hoof Molasses Free For Good Doers

Managing horse and ponies who are prone to weight gain can be tricky throughout the year but here at Barnstaple Equestrian Supplies We stock the Spillers Horse Feeds Range of Horse Feeds - and there is a feed for all types including Happy Hoof Molasses Free Feed.

As your local North Devon Feed Merchants we offer a Store to Stable Local Van Delivery Service and Click & Collection

Spillers Horse Feed Happy Hoof Molasses Free

Low Sugar and Start Diets For Horses

With many horses requiring a diet low in sugar and starch, we thought this guide might be handy.

(1.5% starch & 1.25% sugar) Happy Hoof Molasses Free

(1.5% starch & 1.25% sugar) Fibre Lite Molasses Free

(1.5% starch & 4% sugar) Happy Hoof

(3% starch & 4% sugar) Alfalfa Pro

(5% starch & 4% sugar) Ulca Fibre

(7% starch & 5% sugar) Conditioning Fibre

For feeding advice speak to SPILLERS™ friendly team of nutritionists who are on hand Monday – Friday 9am-5pm and can be reached via;

Spillers Horse Feeds Molasses Free Happy Hoof

Spillers Horse Feeds offers a range of molasses free horse feeds for good doers

𝟭𝟯 𝘄𝗲𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗶𝗽𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗴𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝗿𝘀

Did you know that horses and ponies turned out 24/7 may consume 3 times their daily calorie requirement from grass alone? If your horse or pony is a good doer we hope the following tips and information help you to keep his waistline in check this spring…
Cut calories not nutrients! Despite the calorie overload, grass may be lacking in key nutrients including lysine, copper, zinc and selenium. Balancers provide a concentrated source of vitamins, minerals and quality protein alongside negligible levels of calories, starch and sugar.
Don’t be tempted to increase your horse’s feed in an attempt to improve his energy levels – unfortunately energy and calories are exactly the same thing!
Beware of binge eating! Turning out for short periods without a muzzle or allowing free access to grazing after removing a muzzle may lead to gorging.
Grazing muzzles have been shown to reduce grass intake by approximately 80% in ponies turned out for 3 hours.
New research has shown that ponies managed by strip grazing gained significantly less weight than ponies with free access to grazing over a 28 period.
Soaking hay helps to reduce the sugar content and of course, less sugar means less calories! Just remember that sugar losses are highly variable which means soaking doesn’t guarantee suitability for laminitics.
Due to a loss of nutrients (and therefore dry matter) into the water, each haynet will contain less ‘hay’ and more water post soaking. As a guide, increase the amount of hay you soak by 20%.
For some horses and ponies, replacing up to 30% of the forage ration with straw can help to reduce calorie intake without restricting total intake. Straw should always be introduced gradually and be of good hygiene. Did you know straw can be steamed before feeding?
Total forage intake should not be restricted to less than 1.5% bodyweight (dry matter) per day. In practice this equates to approximately 9kg of hay (11kg if you intend to soak it) or 10-12kg of haylage for a 500kg horse without grazing.
Counting droppings can be useful and more practical way of monitoring forage intake, particularly if you don’t know how much your horse weighs. Initially we recommend aiming to reduce the number of droppings by a third if trying to encourage weight loss but never by more than half.
Aim to maintain a body condition score of 5 out of 9 (4.5-5 for laminitics).
Although weigh tapes may not be an accurate weigh of determining your horse’s actual weight, they can a way of tracking gradual changes. For consistency, try to use the same weigh tape at the same time of day. Changes in gut fill can have a significant effect on the reading - this is why most of us like to stand on the scales first thing in the morning!
Keep up the exercise. A recent study found that even small amounts of exercise may help to support a healthy metabolism, even if it doesn’t result in additional weight loss.

Strip Grazing Research - Spillers Horse Feeds

Challenging times can affecting every aspect of our lives, including, for many of us, how we manage our horses.

If you are turning your horse out daily or 24/7, check out the latest research on strip grazing which has been conducted in collaboration with @SPILLERS, to find out how it can help you manage your horse’s weight.

Rates of obesity are considered to be as high as 70% in some populations of ponies. Quite simply horses usually get fat because they receive more calories/energy in their diet than they burn through activities such as exercise, keeping warm and just the daily energy required to keep them alive (basal metabolic rate). Excess weight increases the risk of laminitis so it’s crucial to try and keep grass intake under control. The latest research shows that strip grazing could be a useful tool for restricting weight gain.

Conducted by Annette Longland in collaboration with SPILLERS via the Waltham Petcare Science Institute Equine Studies Group which strives to enhance equine health and welfare worldwide.

The study compared three restricted grazing practices for equine bodyweight management during the UK grass growing season. Three groups of four ponies, that had been equally matched for weight, height and secondarily, body condition score, were placed in paddocks with a herbage yield equivalent to 1.5% (dry weight) of the ponies’ bodyweight per day for 28 days. They were assigned to one of three grazing practices: no other restriction; a lead fence placed across the width of the paddock to allow fresh grass to be accessed each day by moving it 1/28th of the paddock length daily; strip grazed with both a lead and a back fence with the back fence being moved the same distance as the lead fence daily.

The ponies were weighed and body condition scored weekly. Bodyweight gains were significantly higher for the ponies without any grazing restriction but there was no significant difference in weight gain for those with the lead fence and those with the lead fence and back fence.

“The ponies with gradual access to pasture via strip grazing had significantly lower bodyweight gains than their counterparts who were allowed free access to the entire 28-day herbage allocation,” said Clare Barfoot RNutr, Marketing and Research and Development Director at SPILLERS. “If you are planning on turning your horse out to grass during this current situation or at any other time it’s certainly worth considering installing a strip grazing fence and moving it once a day.”

The next stage of research includes looking at a number of other aspects of strip grazing such as pasture wear and tear and activity levels in order to be able to give further advice as to the choice of strip grazing method.

To help horse owners get through these testing times safely, Clare has put together the following tips:

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