Dengie Horse Feed for the Race Horse

The demands of racing and training mean that racehorses have specialised nutritional requirements. Although nutrition is only one of many factors that influence performance, it is a crucial part as it affects the overall health and well-being of the animal. Introducing a horse feed diet that is more sympathetic to the horse's digestive system should help to reduce the risk of digestive disturbances such as colic and gastric ulcers, thereby reducing the amount of lost training time.

The Benefits of Alfalfa

Fibre is often perceived as a necessary evil with most trainers feeding as little as possible to try and avoid filling their horses with bulk. It's important to consider that not all fibres are the same and that some, such as alfalfa, can be of real benefit to the health of your horse's digestive system. The most important factor is that alfalfa is much more digestible than hay and so doesn't create as much 'deadweight'Feeding one of Dengie's ALFA-A RANGE will also provide additional valuable nutrients such as quality protein for muscle development and calcium for bone formation, as alfalfa has a much higher nutritional value than grass hay.

The benefits of alfalfa to digestive system health begin with increased chewing time. Racehorses spend long periods of time in the stable and develop habits such as wood chewing and cribbing that are often caused by a lack of fibre. By feeding ALFA-A ORIGINAL, horses are able to spend longer periods chewing without damaging their stables! More time spent chewing also increases the amount of saliva produced, which is beneficial for regulating the acidity of the horse's stomach which in turn, should help to reduce the risk of gastric ulcers. The addition of alfalfa to the concentrate ration has been shown to slow the rate of passage of the food through the digestive system. This should enable the horse to extract more of the energy and nutrients from the feed helping to keep the total volume of concentrate feed required to a minimum.

Feeds for Horses in Training

The Dengie horse feed ALFA-A RANGE can be fed with the concentrate ration to promote enhanced digestion. Dengie ALFA-A OIL contains alfalfa with a soya oil coating and added vitamin E for increased anti-oxidant protection. It is equivalent in energy value to a medium to high energy coarse mix and is particularly useful for promoting improved stamina or helping poor doers to maintain condition. ALFA-A LITE has a low sugar coating which is recommended by Vets for horses with muscle problems such as ERS, previously known as tying-up or azoturia. ALFA-A ORIGINAL is the leading alfalfa feed in the UK and has been popular with trainers for many years. It is useful as a natural balancer to cereals due to its high levels of quality protein and calcium and is often fed to counteract poor quality forages.

Maintaining a Healthy Gut

Racehorses come into contact with lots of other horses which means they are vulnerable to picking up bugs. Combined with the fact that their diets are far removed from what they would consume naturally, the health of the digestive system can be significantly compromised. To promote a healthy digestive system, digestive enhancers that contain yeast, probiotics and prebiotics can be used to promote the good bacteria that are involved in keeping harmful bacteria at bay.

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