Sunday, January 15, 2012
What are your thoughts on the following article regarding feed and water needing to be closer to ground level?
Although what horses are fed plays a major role on their health, how they are fed is also important. Because humans don't want to eat off the ground, we ume our horses don't either and hay is often placed in hay racks or mangers at chest level to the horse. The additional feed is often placed in a bucket hung at head level, and again the horse cannot eat as nature intended. Built to chew and swallow with their heads at ground level, not only does this unnatural way cause improperly chewed food, decrease in saliva, and uneven tooth wear, but also increases the possibility of choke or partial obstruction. Respiratory problems can also occur as foreign particles of dust, hay and grain hull pieces can easily be inhaled causing irritation and possible infection. If you are concerned about sand colic, you can use rubber mats or even tire feeders at ground level. Following the same example of ground level feeding, watering also follows nature's rules. Horses don't just sip their water; if given the chance will often submerge their whole muzzle to play or to clean out their nostrils. The bowl-like automatic waterers do not allow this activity and don't allow you to monitor water intake. Rather than using tall narrow tanks, low shallow troughs allow the horse to be closer to the ground as nature intended. Allowing the tank to periodically run over ensures that the hooves receive an occasional moisturizing bath.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
0 comments:
Post a Comment