REGULAR FEATURE SMALL FARM MAKEOVER by Alayne Blickle PHOTO BY ALAYNE BLICKLE Slow Feeders for the Health of Your Horse A Exploring Options lack of enrichment oppor-tunities and boredom in horses can contribute to health issues such as weight gain, ulcers, stall vices (chewing, pawing, weaving, cribbing), fighting be-tween horses, crabbiness under saddle, even colic. An increased exercise schedule, more turnout time, utilizing track paddocks, or even adding horse toys are all positive ways to enrich a horse’s life. Another idea is to try a slow feeder, a means to offer restricted yet free-choice forage for the horse. Slow feeders are a novel approach to feeding horses in a limited manner so that they only get a small bite each time, thereby stretching out meal time. In my travels do-ing Horses for Clean Water work, I’ve seen a variety of approaches and talked with people who’ve implemented different types of slow feeder systems and are pleased with the results. There are a number of ways to approach this; I’ll cover a few here. Horses are designed by nature to eat many small, frequent meals over the course of a day — all day long. Academic research shows us that, left on their own, horses eat 18+ hours per day. The easiest way to meet a domesticated horse’s need for continu-ous forage is to feed smaller, more frequent meals, thereby mimicking a horse’s natural behavior. Going to three or five feedings per day would be an improvement over the stan-dard two feedings. Another simple option is to leave out ad-ditional, lower quality hay (high in fiber and low in non-structural carbohydrates) for your horses to browse on during the day, thereby providing them with more “chew time.” A shortcoming to this approach is that horses often waste hay when they have a surplus or they quickly get overweight. To beat the wasted hay/bored horse co-nundrum, different kinds of slow feeders can be made or purchased which will break up the monotony during the day and simulate a more natural feeding environment. Automat-Slow feeder hay bags help slow down a horse’s hay intake and reduce boredom. ic feeders with slots for up to six (or more) feedings are a pricier but reliable way to do this. This kind of system gives the horse mul-tiple small feedings over the course of a day (and night) which is closer to the lifestyle of their wild relatives on the plains. Another type of slow feeder comes in the hay net variety. This is basically a large hay net with small holes. Horses expend more effort pulling hay out from between the net’s holes, thus spending more time eating while consuming less. Different types of nets with different brand names are on the market; some are sold specifically as ways to slow a horse’s hay intake. I’ve also seen double bagged hay nets and even old hockey nets made into slow feeders that work well. Slow feeder hay bags are also available which are large canvas hay bags with small holes. These probably don’t restrict the horse’s intake as substantially as other op-tions, but they might offer a workable solu-tion for some. Different types of slow feeder bins are available—or you might be able to create something useful yourself. These are usually large wooden or hard plastic containers with a grate to hold down the hay. Horses have to pick carefully at the hay to get it out, only re-moving one small mouthful at a time. This means less waste and more time spent eat-ing. Note: be extremely careful if your horse scrapes his teeth on metal or rough edges as this can promote damage to his teeth or soft tissues in his mouth. Academic research shows us that small-er, more frequent meals are healthier for our horses since they encourage increased chewing time, smaller particle size, and in-creased salivation resulting in fewer overall health issues. If you have concerns about your horses being bored, or if they are ex-periencing any of the health issues men-tioned earlier, you may want to investigate some type of slow feeder. NWHS Join Alayne Blickle at these UPCOMING EVENTS Horse Health and Land Management 2nd Wednesdays in January & February 6:30–8:30 PM Idaho Equine Hospital’s Client Education Series. Pre-register at 208-466-4613. EDUCATION SERIES • NAMPA, ID Alayne Blickle, a life-long equestrian and educator, is the creator/ director of Horses for Clean Water, an award-winning, nationally acclaimed environmental education program that “wrote the book” on caring for horses and land. Known for her enthusiastic, fun and down-to-earth approach, she is an educator and photojournalist who has worked with horse and livestock owners for over 20 years. Alayne teaches and travels throughout North America and abroad, and also runs Sweet Pepper Ranch, an environmentally sensitive ecotourism guest ranch in Southwestern Idaho where she and her husband raise top-notch reining horses and beautiful grass hay. For more information on Fire-wise for Horse Owners, or to schedule a FREE presentation to your horse group, please contact Alayne at alayne@horsesforcleanwater.com or 206-909-0225 . Horses and Land Management ONLINE COURSE Try an online course to help you get rid of mud, discover options for managing manure, and reduce chemical use! Start now to make winter less muddy and the coming summer more chore-efficient with productive pastures and less flies. Cost for series is $49 (early registration by 1/04/19); $80 thereafter. www.horsesforcleanwater.com/events www.nwhorsesource.com 12 January 2019 The Northwest Horse Source
The Northwest Horse Source NWHS 0119 Issue: Page 12
