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Horse’s metabolic syndrome


Heinätin® Hay feeders, Feeding information, Big stables and yards, Small and private stables by katja@hevoskeksinnot.fi, 10.5.2021
Slimming down by eating

Frequent straw feeding also helps in the fight against another common health problem in horses. Obesity is a disease of affluence among horses and people alike. Oversized feeding portions and minimized movement allows the horses to gain excess weight.

Free hay or overly large hay portions are not suitable for a good fodder-user. Instead, a horse which easily gains excess weight should be given small portions of hay several times a day. “Frequent, overly large portions cause weight-gain and collect fat”, says Anne Sjöholm, a vet specialized in equine illnesses.

A horse’s metabolic syndrome is a state where the sugars contained in food cause a continuous rise of insulin levels and ultimately lead to insulin resistance. “It often leads to severe health problems such as laminitis”, Anne Sjöholm warns.

 
A health-promoting feeding rhythm

The Heinätin® hay feeder is an easy way to organize a natural and health-promoting feeding rhythm for the horse: with it, you don’t have to give large amounts of hay in the evening, but instead, you can distribute the hay into small portions to be munched away during the night. This way, you can decrease the total amount of hay without making the horse susceptible to stomach ulcers.

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