Promoting condition safely is the most common request for Dengie nutrition team

AT the end of each year the Dengie team of nutritionists look back at the number and nature of the enquiries they received to their helpline over the last 12 months.

Data collected from enquiries has shown that promoting condition safely remains the topic most frequently asked about. Many horse owners were keen to avoid or reduce the amount of cereals their horses were consuming and so were looking for high quality fibre and high oil feeds instead.

What is really encouraging is that horse owners were also contacting Dengie about those at the other end of the spectrum. It can be a fine balance to provide enough fibre without promoting weight gain, particularly with trying to reduce the risk of gastric ulcers at the forefront of many horse owner’s minds and it was this finding that came out of market research Dengie conducted a couple of years ago and resulted in the launch of Dengie Ulser Lite.

Enquiries relating to gastric ulcers have also increased over the last couple of years making it the third most popular topic horse owners asked about in 2022, up from fifth spot in 2020. The Dengie Feedline team have also seen an increase in the number of enquiries regarding good doers or overweight horses prone to or being diagnosed with gastric ulcers breaking the stereotype of the typical ‘skinny’ ulcer prone individual.

Making forage go further was another key question which is no surprise in a year when the extreme weather greatly reduced forage yields in many areas of the country. What may surprise horse owners is the wide variety of animals the Dengie Feedline team are asked about so whilst not the most numerous, they are often the most unusual and test the team’s knowledge.

The fibre feeds Dengie produce are suitable for a wide variety of species and so enquiries come in for everything from rabbits to elephants! Alfa-A Original is fed to many of the animals at Paradise Wildlife Park including zebra, tapir and camels.

The top five topics that horse owners enquired about in 2022 were:

n Promoting condition safely;

n Providing sufficient fibre for good doers without resulting in weight gain;

n Enquiries relating to gastric ulcers;

n How to extend or replace hay;

n Fibre feeds for horses with dental issues.

The Dengie Nutrition team are on hand to answer any feeding queries horse owners may have from what to feed a recently weaned foal to fuelling energy in the competition horse or providing fibre for a veteran who struggles to chew hay. Dengie also recently organised a webinar on saving and caring for exotic species with guest speakers Tullis Matson, founder of Nature’s Safe and Andy Beer zoo animal nutritionist of Zoocraft Limited. The recording of the webinar can be found on the Dengie YouTube channel.

n For help and advice on all aspects of feeding call the Dengie Feedline: 01621 841188 or visit the website.

n You can also find them on: Facebook: @DengieHorseFeeds Instagram: @DengieHorseFeeds Twitter: @DengieHorseFeed You Tube: @DengieHorseFeeds