How horse supplements can benefit your horse

Good nutrition is the basis of a balanced diet and is one that supplies all the essential nutrients that a horse needs daily but its complexity means it is frequently misunderstood. Vitamins and minerals are two of the essential nutrients needed by horses, an imbalance of these nutrients can be detrimental to your horse’s overall health and performance.

Ensuring a horse has an adequate supply of protein, carbohydrates (including fibre), lipids (oils and fats), and energy is much easier than ensuring your horse is receiving enough vitamins and minerals. The range of feed available on the market is overwhelming for any horse owner. 

Typically horse feeds contain a mixture of feed ingredients and added vitamins and minerals. Feeds can be very good sources of dietary energy, protein, and fat; however, the concentration of vitamins and minerals is not enough to provide horses with the quantity or quality they need daily.

Many feeds are low in vitamins and minerals with varying levels and will be formulated based on an expected feed intake. Knowing the exact feed intake, a horse needs is complicated and various factors need to be considered such as the breed, height and weight of the horse, the horses training regime, and whether the horse needs to increase, maintain or lose body condition. The level of nutrients provided by feed is dependent on the amount fed.

Nutrient deficiencies are not always obvious, and many health issues that result from them can be mistakenly attributed to something else.

Additional supplementation with high quality horse supplements will help to ensure your horse’s diet is properly balanced and will minimise the risk of ill health associated with nutritional deficiencies. As well as providing extra support for your horse’s joints, tendons, muscles, and overall wellbeing.

To determine whether your horse would benefit from a horse supplement, it is important to know the nutritional composition of your horse’s diet. Check the nutritional value of your horse’s feed and speak to the feed manufacture if you are unclear. Remember some grass and preserved forages such as hay are often short and unreliable for essential vitamins and minerals, especially during the winter months.

You can also tailor which horse supplements you use in your horse’s diet to help with the following:

Vitamins and Minerals

Nutritional deficiencies in horse feed can be remedied by adding nutritional horse supplements.

SYNOVIUM® PREFIT contains a balanced composition with high-quality vitamins, minerals, trace elements and Biotin to make your horse feel optimally fit. This supplement can be used for a lack of vitamins in forage and to boost the immune system.