Equine Waistlines Expanding

HORSES, like humans, are getting fatter and it can have an impact on their foals.

Dr Peter Huntington is veterinarian from Melbourne and is in Scone to educate local horse owners on the importance of good nutrition.

“The pasture quality nowadays is better than it used to be, especially with irrigated green pastures, which a mare owner in Sydney may like to see and they are less likely to be in hilly paddocks like they were years before,” said Dr Huntington.

“There is a lot of new information on the impact of obesity and the relationship to long term health on the foals, just as there has been in humans and the health of pregnant mothers,” he said.

“We are seeing a greater instance of leg deformities and less than ideal confirmation in foals and the mare is more at risk of laminitis,” he said.

“It’s important to set up a feeding program that is right for each circumstance, so if a horse is in a flat, green paddock then you may only give them one kilo of supplements, but if they are in a hillier paddock where the pasture is not as good, then giving them three or four kilos would be ok,” Peter Huntington said.

• What: Equine nutrition seminar.
• When: 7pm, Wednesday, August 16, 2017.
• Where: Hunter Valley Equine Research Centre, 434 Bunnan Road, Scone.
• RSVP: Julianne Christopher, Hunter Thoroughbred Breeders Association. M: 0488 150 133 or E: julianne@htba.com.au