It is easy to provide the proper amount of protein, calories and basic vitamins and minerals for your horse. Every feed is designed to do just that for the average horse when fed at the proper amount. However, many horses need more than the basics.
All horses have some level of stress in their lives from as little as being chased by flies in the pasture to intense training and transportation associated with showing. Stress can directly affect immunity making horses more susceptible to problems like digestive upset and disease. Like people, some horses handle stress well while others fall to pieces with the slightest change in routine.
Probiotics, prebiotics and organic minerals all help animals cope better under stress, but some feeds say they include these nutrients but do not guarantee them while others provide such a low level that they may lose effectiveness.
Recent research indicates that probiotics (direct fed microbials) must provide at a daily rate of 1 billion CFU (colony forming units) of an individual strain to be effective. Prebiotics are probiotics that are no longer alive but improve the health of live microbial populations by nourishing the live population or providing protection from negative bacteria. Finally, organic minerals are often bound to amino acids to help improve absorption of these key nutrients. Key minerals like copper, zinc, manganese, magnesium, iron and selenium are often in short supply in many equine diets high in pasture and hay, but low in feed.
Improved immunity is like buying insurance, you may not need it but having it available is important to your horse’s health and well-being.
For questions on Triple Crown feeds or answers to nutrition questions, visit triplecrownfeed.com or call 800-451-9916. Go online and find a comparison tool to see the Triple Crown advantage.