George
George on arrival
Aside from the amazing job Nina has done transforming his health – George’s story highlights some critical points about whether our domestic horses need supplementary daily feeds.
Nina took George on 18 months ago when he was 20, he will be 22 this year. Most people would have ‘passed’ because of his age and the fact he did not look very healthy despite being out on a huge paddock of grass for the previous five years.
Fortunately he had been well looked after in that he had his hooves and teeth attended to regularly, he had hay and was covered over winters but had no daily feeds ie no supplementary protein, salt or vitamins & minerals.
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With proper nutrition and a slow, progressive introduction back to work, George has turned out to be a ‘gift horse’ - a totally reliable steed who safely takes Nina trekking and enjoys Riding Club activities. So of course Nina wants him to LAST - she doesn’t want to go through the process again of finding a horse she feels so confident on!
George 2 years on, well nourished and looking much much younger than his 22 years1
From Nina:
“George had no top line when we got him and there was muscle wastage. As you can see in the first photo.
George wasn’t easy to put weight on because he was prone to digestive upsets from the grass - to the point he only gets an hour on the longest grass a few times a week, no more.
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Not to mention he was one of the fussiest horses I have ever had! Initially he didn't want to eat any hard feed whatsoever!
And if ANYTHING changed in his feed – the amount, consistency, or if I tried to add something he would turn his nose up. I even with added Molasses he still didn't eat consistently.
Despite this, he still improved considerably on his feeds (crushed linseed, sun-flower meal, Premium MVA and salt) as you can see in the second photo.
But since being on Good2Go for the last 4 months he has bloomed because he eats ALL his feed everyday with no fuss. A game-changer!
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George is 16.2hh and is in regular work so I add 500gms of barley to his Good2Go in a small amount of chaff. So simple and easy for me to do.”
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Until Nina came along George was surviving but not thriving because forage alone is inadequate (as are salt/mineral licks for a multitude of reasons).
Of course your domestic horse needs you to provide him with proper nourishment his whole life.
Wild/feral horses do not live as long as domestic horses. Horse owners want their horses to have a long and useful life, many have succumbed to degenerative conditions before they are 20, conditions that could have been prevented or postponed with better nutrition.
Wild horses are also not as large as horses bred these days. As Dr Deb Bennett Ph.D explained to us – we have bred horses larger while selecting for smaller heads, this means the grinding area/capacity of the molars is inadequate to grind enough food to keep them healthy without supplementary feeding.