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- 5 tips for maintaining horse gut health during drought
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Blog
What is Scoping?
Scoping (aka gastroscopy) is an important tool for detection of gastric (stomach) ulcers and their location within the stomach. Scoping allows us as horse owners to rule out or identify gastric ulcers as a cause of behavioural or physical signs we are seeing in our horses. It is also used for monitoring the effectiveness of gastric ulcer treatment and/or management changes implemented to reduce the role risk factors play in gastric ulcers.
Why do we fast our horses before Scoping?
Prior to scoping, most veterinarians will request that horses need to be fasted for no less than 12 hours. Read on to learn more about why this occurs and what we can do to help.
- 10 May, 2022
- 2 min read
- 13 April, 2022
- 4 min read
- 29 March, 2022
- 2 min read
- 29 March, 2022
- 3 min read
- 23 March, 2022
- 1 min read
- 21 February, 2022
- 4 min read
It’s important to work with your vet to try and identify the cause of a colic episode. If necessary, you can then make changes to your horse’s management or diet, to reduce the risk of future episodes.
Most colic cases are gut-related and many diet-related risk factors have been identified.
So what are the common diet-related risk factors for colic in horses?
- 20 January, 2022
- 12 min read
The short answer is, yes. We ask a lot of performance horses. As a result of regular, high-intensity exercise, travel, how they’re housed, and what they’re often fed, performance horses can be at much greater risk of poor gut health and its associated problems. These include: gastric ulcers, colic, diarrhoea, poor performance, and behavioural problems. (And though they’re not strictly performance problems, poor gut health can also cause weak hooves and a dull coat).
Realistically, if you compete with or race your horse, you probably can’t avoid all the factors which negatively impact their gut health – such as travel or high-intensity exercise. But in this article, we’ll focus on what you can control – such as diet, turnout time and providing gut support. By working on what you can control, we can help minimise the impact of performance on your horse’s gut health, so they can look, perform, and behave at their very best.
- 25 December, 2021
- 15 min read
- 16 December, 2021
- 14 min read
You’ve probably heard it before. Support local. Buy Australian. But have you ever wondered, why?
For us, as a business operating out of the Illawarra in NSW, and manufacturing in the NSW Southern Highlands, it means you’re helping us drive local economies and create jobs for local people.
We launched our business at a small scale here in the Illawarra, initially just wanting to make a difference to the health of horses in our own network.
Now, we help thousands of horses across Australia and beyond, to enjoy the gift of true health that comes from good gut health. But we’re still locally owned and made. And still conscious of our local community and our potential for making a positive impact.
Think small.
We’re a small, family-run business with big ideas and big ambitions.
To us, it’s the dream. Running a business which is close to our heart, with the people who mean most to us.
Thank you for being here and supporting our small business.
Because when you buy from a small business, you make a big impact.
- 15 December, 2021
- 1 min read
Nowadays, there’s a better way – and it’s by reducing energy (calorie) intake rather than reducing feed intake altogether. The principle behind feeding for weight loss is based on replacing higher energy pasture or hay in the diet with lower energy hay or straw (in sufficient quantities) and at the same time ensuring protein, vitamin and mineral requirements are met. This approach results in a much healthier horse, which is more likely to lose weight.
- 18 November, 2021
- 8 min read
We’ll cover:
What are gastric ulcers and why do they occur?
Is scoping important?
Should I treat for gastric ulcers?
Are there downsides to treating gastric ulcers with medication?
What are the foundations of a good diet for a horse with gastric ulcers?
What are some examples of ulcer-friendly diets?
My horse has glandular ulcers, what management changes should I make?
Where do Digestive EQ and VM fit?
When might I use Stress Paste?
What else can I do to help prevent gastric ulcers?
- 28 October, 2021
- 17 min read
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- Digestive EQ: A Preliminary Field Evaluation