Eliminating Intolerances
Owning a horse can be one of the most amazing and fulfilling experiences, but it can also be one of the most frustrating. You know your horse really well, but sometimes it can be difficult to know exactly what is going on - maybe he is demonstrating some inconsistent behaviour, or his skin is scurfy, with bumps that appear and disappear, and you just can’t quite put your finger on the problem. For some horses, nutritionally sound ingredients appear to cause unexpected and unwanted reactions. Individual horses react differently, but food intolerances may affect your horse's health and behaviour in many ways:
• Excitable or ‘bolshy’ behaviour
• Unexplained lumps and bumps
• Itchy or scurfy skin
• Loose or watery droppings
• Recurrent bouts of low-grade colic
Many horses live quite happily with low-level sensitivities to foods that you may never have been aware of, and only become a problem when their health is compromised in some other way such as suffering infection, some stress, trauma or injury, or being generally run down.
Using supplements or topical skin creams to cover up these problems is like repeatedly taking painkillers for recurrent headaches without finding out what is causing the problem. If the problem is not addressed, then eating foods, which the body is not able to digest satisfactorily will further stress the system, and the number of foods to which your horse reacts may grow. The only guaranteed way of discovering whether your horse’s health problems are caused by an intolerance to specific feed ingredients is by undertaking an elimination diet. Feeding only products that do not contain the suspected offending ingredient for a period of two to four weeks, seeing if the horse improves, and challenging it by feeding those ingredients again and seeing if things get worse. The most difficult situation is when a number of ingredients appear to be involved.
Allen & Page has formulated a range of feeds especially for horses suffering from intolerances. For more help and advice, simply call the Allen & Page Helpline on 01362 822902 or email helpline@allenandpage.co.uk
