Information generally available

stormybracken · Information generally available

Just started to read the latest Your Horse magazine (local rider on the cover, yay!)- one of the "free gifts" is a feed guide/catalogue sponsored by specific feed manufacturers, no useful information in there for me about specific ingredients such as sugar levels; and within a feature on False Economies is "Regular hoof care - taking shoes off without consulting your vet or farrier could lead to lameness and expense as some horses can't cope barefoot". That's all. I have been writing emails to various magazines for a few weeks now asking for more useful features on feeding and barefoot performance. I wonder if this is it?

Sez

Pitch up here love. You with kinfolk here Wink

There is now THE BOOK. But before that, it was neccessary to rely on t'internet for advice.

I've given up reading all the horsey mags as it all seems to be the same few articles over and over.

The whole barefoot thing has made me less likely to believe in what I'm told within the equine industry, and these magazines are so behind the times I find myself getting annoyed by them.

Problem is that the rest of the equine world think we're all mad and full of s***. They don't want to listen Crying or Very sad

brucea

Partly the equine world is the way it is because of the equine press.

I used to buy magazines - and occasionally H&H produces a good article - but mostly these mags are advertising driven, superficial, repetitive, unoriginal, highly dumbed down and the advice is often simply harmful - so I don't buy them any more.

2 magazines = 1 nice bottle of red...I know what I'll buy!!!! Razz

horsesfirst

Yay I gave up on the mags years ago too. They are still publishing the same articles I first read 25 years ago. Unfortunately a lot of published equine material is equally out of date and just recycles myth and ill founded opinion.

So save the money and spend it on something more worthwhile. Grace begs for chamomile flowers and doglet wants a new frisbee. OH wants a push up bra but I don't think it would suit him........ Laughing

brucea

vickyclink

becnreps

I read this "free" supplement with the Your Horse mag.
Most of it was utter bull! (to me anyway!)
Everything that they advertised included all the things that we avoid at all costs - mollasses and cereals.
What about warning people about the dangers of these things?! And warning people to actually read the feedbag (and usually have to then probe the feed companies about the real contents of the feed) and realise that most of the feeds are completely laden with sugar!
In fact - I dont think that they even mention sugar. Rolling Eyes

I dont know if I'm alone here but I think that the way the equine world works is to try and make us all have very unhealthy, crazy and unhappy horses with very bad feet! Evil or Very Mad

I agree with you Sez:

brucea

Sadly - when it comes down to it - equine and human processed food value chain is hugely based on carbohydrates and sugar, because that's what is cheapest, readily available and easily processed, unitised, comoditised, packaged and sold.

Where do you think the advertising space gets funded from? Why is that magazine only £2.50!

I often wonder for a £10 20Kg bag of feed in the horsey shop - given the overheads, cost of production, marketing, advertising, printed packaging, transport and distribution, logistics, wholesaler and reseller profit....how much of my £10 was actually quality feed ingredients? What have I actually bought 20Kg of? Nothing terribly high quality I'm pretty sure. Confused

But paradoxically, I've found that helping my horses and my children to eat healthy actually saves money.

I spend 50% of what I used to spend and my horses are %%%% healthier. I save money on shoes as well, and my lad's feet benefit.

Wow...that was a satisfying little rant! Very Happy

horsesfirst

Horse I 'do' which took ages to get rock crunching went into serial decline foot wise when it moved yards. We found out that 'knowledgeable' YM put horse onto big brand 'laminitic trust' chaff - not vast quantities but.

Owner with some encouragement got the LT chaff removed. What do you know just a week or so later horse much better over more challenging surfaces. Not back to rock crunching but on its way.

YM has some higher ed qualification in equine nutrition and is advised by 'laminitic expert' vet. Rolling Eyes

I reckon this makes the (novice) owner very brave because it must have been hard to stand up to those two.

At least the horse is back on the right track and top marks to its owner.

Sez

oops - have we scared OP away?

Sorry if we have - it's just that this is the only place we can 'dress like a woman' in safety, without being jeered at.

vickyclink

becnreps

Quite a lot of horses would be fine on the Dengie chaffs ... but most of them are shod!
I used to have my boy on Alfa-A Lite and then found out that it is 8% sugar! So he came straight off that and I started looking for an unmollassed chaff. When looking, I found out that none of the Dengie chaffs dont contain mollasses! Even the Hi-Fi Lite! So much for them being approved by the laminitis trust!

The one that I decided on was the Simple System Lucie Stalks. Its completely unmollassed. However, it is still Alfalfa (as I've been informed - didnt even realise! Embarassed

) which can still be a problem for some horses - making them quite footsore. Therefore, I'm just trying the Lucie Stalks to see how we get on.
So really, if your horse is sensitive to alfalfa then no chaffs are safe! Its just really trial and error!

stormybracken

My rock crunching NF is fine on Luciestalks.. at the moment! I'm learning this may not be the case throughout the year. I'm learning!!!

becnreps

hobnob

Mine was on Hi Fi Lite for years but I found when I took her off of it her footiness improved. I couldnt find any safe chaffs so she just has Fast Fibre but she is one very senitive madam ! I worried about her not having to chew but she has hay to chew and makes lovely slurping noises when eating her FF !!