Winter warmer
Maintain your horse’s health and happiness with Winter Health Mash from Dodson & Horrell
THE THOUGHT OF winter approaching can bring a feeling of dread to horse owners. A combination of wind, rain, ice, snow and dark nights, coupled with limited grazing and diminishing grass quality can mean that maintaining your horse’s health, weight and fitness can be a challenge. As horse owners, there are ways that we can help to minimise the weight and health issues that may otherwise be inevitable when the cold weather sets in. For most horses there are five key concepts to keep in mind when it comes to winter feeding;
1 Compensate for the calories lost during colder weather.
2 Incorporate ingredients into the diet to aid digestive function and help to provide warmth from the inside.
3 Boost the antioxidants in the diet to support the immune system. 4 Ensure all the dietary components for hoof quality are supplied.
5 Maximise ways to increase f luid intake.
Dodson & Horrell’s Winter Health Mash has been designed to support your horse’s immune system and digestive function over the winter months. It stimulates your horse’s appetite with added carrots, peas and herbs to appeal to fussy feeders.
Feeding a warming mash can help to provide extra warmth to your horse from the inside — just using warm water rather than cold to soak the mash can make a significant difference on a really cold day, particularly if your horse has been standing out in an open field or working hard earlier in the day. The addition of bran, mint and fennel can also help to maintain a healthy digestive function when there is more reliance on dried forage and poorer quality grass. In very cold weather, finding ways to prevent buckets or water troughs from freezing over can be a challenge. By incorporating a soaked mash into your horse’s diet, he can benefit from both higher fibre and increased water intake. Many horses would rather go thirsty than drink icy cold water.
Ready in minutes
Preparation of Winter Health Mash is simple. Just soak it in warm (or cold) water for 10 minutes before feeding and it will warm your horse from the inside and also increase fluid intake to help keep him hydrated. Added echinacea helps to support the immune system, while bran, mint and fennel assist in maintaining a healthy digestive function. Winter Health Mash also provides oat-free and molasses-free calories with 7.5% oil content for great coat condition. It’s important to remember that Winter Health Mash is not a complete feed. It is intended as an addition to an existing diet, therefore it should be fed alongside Dodson & Horrell Ultimate Balancer or another complete feed to aid health and condition during the winter months.