Healthy Gut, Healthy Horse

A guide for horse owners showing how equestrian health is impacted upon by diet and environment. Features advice and guidance for ensuring the best equestrian gut health based on the latest research.

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'Healthy Gut, Healthy Horse' demonstrates how equine health is influenced by diet and environment. Dr Carol Hughes, an equine phyto-nutritionist (nutrigenomics) and microbiologist, and Geertje French, an equine nutritionist and behaviourist, explain these factors and, by using the latest research, offer solutions and remedies for the wider equestrian community.

Advances in technology and microbiology have now made it possible to examine the causes of gastrointestinal diseases, and the effects of diet on the health and welfare of horses in microscopic detail. Extensive research has found that diseases such as ulcers, equine metabolic syndrome, colic and laminitis are caused by diet. Many of these are preceded by inflammation, which becomes the precursor for feed-related sickness.

This book highlights which plants, herbs, berries and fruits are beneficial for equine gut health and those which are aimed at the treatment of disease and ailments, as well as pain relief, related to the gastrointestinal tract.

The authors feature recipes for helping to combat specific food-related diseases, and a chapter is devoted to the advances in manufactured foods, which include hedgerow and herbage components, as well as working towards more sustainable and organic-based farming methods. A seasonal calendar advises when to harvest and plant nutritional forage, while the dietary requirements of horses at different ages and stages of their lives are also provided.