As a horse owner, you always want the best for your horse. The selection of muesli, treats, and supplementary feed is huge. But what is right for my horse? Does it really need everything that the horses next door are getting? Unfortunately, overfeeding with individual feed components can also lead to colic, metabolic disorders, laminitis, or other health problems.
The magic word in horse feeding is roughage. When our faithful companions still roamed the vast steppes in herds, their main activity was to eat slowly as they moved forward step by step. Fifty to sixty kilograms of steppe grass was their daily ration.
Today, only their living conditions have changed, not their eating habits. Eating and moving around is in the nature of horses. Their digestive system is also designed for this. If a horse does not eat for more than four hours, the stomach acid that forms can attack the stomach lining. We should therefore ensure that our horses always have sufficient hay or other fiber-rich food. In addition to hay, straw, older pasture grass, and silage are also rich in fiber.
For horses that like straw, it is important that they always have fresh bedding, because some horses like to eat both their feed and their bedding. If wood shavings are used as bedding, straw should be added to their feed. If our horse only does light work, hay would actually be sufficient as food. However, it is advisable to ensure that it has access to hay around the clock.
Barley, oats, corn, and mixed feed are the common types of concentrated feed that our horses find on their menu these days. The amount of feed should be chosen depending on the type of exercise, intensity of work, and breed of the horse. However, it is better to feed smaller portions more frequently than too much at once, as concentrated feed stimulates the production of stomach acid. To protect the stomach lining, it should therefore always be fed after roughage. Roughage is chewed much longer and more intensively than concentrated feed, which stimulates salivation and promotes tooth abrasion. This causes gastric juices to be produced in the horse's stomach and stimulates the pancreas to produce digestive enzymes. This stimulates intestinal activity even before the concentrated feed enters the digestive tract.
Various oils can be used as a supplement in feed. They are a perfect source of energy and even more easily digestible than concentrated feed. However, horses do not normally require additional oil, as they consume enough fat in their daily feed. However, for horses with metabolic problems, sport horses with increased energy requirements, or horses with a concentrate intolerance, the ration can be supplemented with a high-quality oil. Soybean, rapeseed, sunflower, wheat germ, and linseed oils have proven particularly effective in this regard. Fish oil is an insider tip that many horses tend to spurn, but it is worth a try. Your horse may like this oil, as it is one of the highest quality oils in horse feed, along with linseed oil, because it is rich in omega-3 fatty acids.
You can purchase the various oils for horse feed in specialist shops. Please always follow the recommended feeding guidelines. Too much oil can cause intestinal imbalance, as horses can only digest a maximum of 1-1.5 ml of oil per kg of body weight per day.
Good sources of vitamins for your horse include apples, carrots, beetroot, celery, and turnips. Fruit and vegetables are particularly suitable for feeding during the winter months when horses no longer have access to pasture grass.
A word of warning for those who mean well: long-term feeding of energy-rich feed in combination with a lack of exercise can lead to EMS (equine metabolic syndrome). Obesity (fatness) and laminitis can also develop as a result of feeding errors.
Finally, it's done. The mare has successfully completed her pregnancy of approximately 335 days. Her udder filled with milk two to four weeks ago and is now full and plump. The external signs are clear. The foal is ready to see the light of day.
A cat that starts marking should be examined as soon as possible. As the owner, you should quickly find and remedy the cause, as marking can become a really unpleasant habit that not only offends your nose, but also causes emotional rollercoaster rides if it happens repeatedly.
Are you considering getting your dog a companion? Yes, exploring the neighborhood together or waiting for their owners together is much more enjoyable than being alone! Provided that the companions like each other. If not, the second dog project can also cause problems. It is therefore a good idea to think about it carefully beforehand.
Dermatology is the field of medicine that deals with diseases of the skin and its appendages, such as claws, horns, and hair. Skin diseases are among the most common reasons for veterinary visits—there are even veterinary practices that specialize in dermatology.
Not all birds are the same. Some are large, some are small, some are loud, some are quiet... To find the bird species that suits you best, it's a good idea to ask yourself a few important questions in advance.
Which horses get osteoarthritis? It very often affects older horses that have already covered many miles in their lifetime or those that have been actively involved in sport for some time. However, horses that have not had regular exercise appropriate to their species can also develop osteoarthritis. Basically, though, there is no general rule. It is also not easy to recognize osteoarthritis in its early stages. Sometimes, horse owners think that their horse is just experiencing a temporary period of overexertion when it has difficulty getting up from the straw. Or they believe that the cold winter is the reason why their horse is a little stiff-legged. After all, who likes to run around at minus 15 degrees Celsius? So where does osteoarthritis start and how can a horse owner best deal with it?
HCM is the most common heart disease in cats. Hypertrophy refers to the enlargement of an organ, in this case the thickening of the heart muscle. Cardiomyopathy refers to a heart muscle disease. As a result of the thickening of the heart muscle, the heart can no longer fill itself sufficiently with blood and cannot pump enough blood into the body's circulation. This leads to a backflow of blood into the pulmonary circulation, which in advanced stages can lead to water retention and shortness of breath.
Most horse owners are familiar with and fear this scenario. The horse suddenly stops eating, becomes restless, scrapes its hooves and kicks its belly. Colic basically describes any type of abdominal pain in horses. Unfortunately, colic in horses is a very complex problem and should never be taken lightly.
Glaucoma describes a condition of increased intraocular pressure (physical pressure on the inner wall of the eye, leading to a constant, smooth curvature of the cornea), which causes damage to the retina and optic nerve. The medical term glaucoma comes from Greek and means "sea-colored," because the cornea turns blue due to the increase in pressure in the eye.
A horse is quite large, and the damage it can cause is considerable. In the event of an accident, the costs can easily run into several thousand dollars. A substantial sum may also be required if our horse falls ill or even needs surgery. Not to mention the financial worries if we lend our horse and it has an accident while being ridden. It is therefore very sensible and important to think about what would happen in the worst-case scenario. There are plenty of insurance policies available. Every horse owner and rider should find out exactly what is available and choose the right policy for their needs. Below is a list of some insurance policies and situations where they might be needed.
Before acquiring a dog, it is important to consider not only the important questions regarding a suitable living environment, daily routine and care options. You should also address safety issues, which often begin with "What if...?" Yes, you guessed correctly: we are referring to insurance.
Not all cats are the same – but most of them do have some characteristic traits in common! Here are a few things you should know about cats and our special relationship with them.
