Horse Nutrition to prevent diseases (II)

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Horse nutrition is the key to prevent many diseases. We will learn more about it in this article.

“We are what we eat”
Ludwig Feuerbach

In this issue we will continue talking about the diseases associated with the wrong horse nutrition. We will talk about equine laminitis and the disease of Mondays.

Equine Laminitis

Another disease that can generate for bad horse nutrition is laminitis, also known as infosura and which we have discussed in more detail earlier. A problem generated in the hooves, so it is often surprising that they are related to food. It occurs when blood flow is interrupted in the hoof blades or hooves. This disease causes the horse great pain and serious mobility problems.

The Anatomy of Laminitis in Horses

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Changes in metabolism due to poor diet affect the helmets. Therefore it is necessary to avoid digestive disorders in the diet of the animal to prevent Laminitis. Another of the fundamental factors comes from the overfeeding of the horse. The overweight of the horse due to overfeeding, in addition to the excess of different nutrients, such as starch, affect the blood flow to the horse’s hooves. Avoiding these errors in horse nutrition will decrease the chances of this disease. Even so, we do not eliminate all the causes, as a trauma or a badly healed helmet injury can also cause it.

Monday Equine Disease

Known as rhabdomyolysis or azothuria is a disease that shows symptoms of muscle stiffening. In very serious cases the horse may lose the ability to move.

During the 19th century and at the beginning of the 20th century, horses on farms did not work on Sundays. At that time, the amount of feed that horses fed on rest days was not reduced. In addition, the feed itself was based entirely on mixtures of cereals. From time to time, some horse collapsed suddenly, with severe muscle damage, on Monday during work. For this reason, one of the common names for this disease is “Monday’s disease”.

As soon as we began to observe the existing relationship with horse nutrition and with block management, cases of this disease decreased significantly. But, in the decade of the 30s, many cases were seen again by the practice of fashion in those years of providing large quantities of molasses to the horse before exercise.

As with equine laminitis, the excess of horse nutrition high in soluble carbohydrates (such as starch) in the diet can be one of the conditions that causes this disease to appear, as well as other carbohydrates. Another important point to mitigate as much as possible its appearance is to dose the food intake. As with feeding, we must also review the exercise performed by the animal, especially after several days of being without physical activity, for which the intensity must be increased gradually.

To take care of your horse nutrition

As you have seen, poor diet can contribute to diseases of all kinds to our horse and in different parts of his body. Take care of it and it will thank you!