Long, hot, dry weather may be wonderful for us during our leisure time, but the driest spring on record has had some serious implications for all connected with the land - including our horses. The dry spell looks likely to continue into drought. Read on to see how you can help manage your horse during this time.
For the second consecutive Sunday, presenter Adam Henson has discussed the use of sainfoin during Countryfile. Those that know Simple System well, know that sainfoin is one of our favourite forages for horses - and that we offer an extensive range of sainfoin feeds.
With anthelmintic resistance on the rise, horse owners worry about parasitic worms in their horses and most of us have a variety of strategies to control them. If we can understand the worms’ life cycle, we can be more effective at managing them.
There are lots of reason why horses itch and scratch. Diet can be a factor, whether the cause in an inherited condition or a reaction to certain feeds. Inherited conditions, such as sweet itch, mallenders and sallenders, for instance, will never go away, but can be less impactful with adjustments to diet and management.
My niece came home from primary school with a work sheet about animals. A picture of a horse looking over a stable door was captioned “I am a horse. I live in a stable and I eat oats and hay.’’ Oh dear! Whilst for many horses this is a sad reality, it is very far from delivering good welfare.
Describing a horse as “metabolic” is a commonly used umbrella term – it may mean that they have Equine Metabolic Syndrome (EMS) specifically or, Pituitary Pars Intermedia Dysfunction (PPID)...