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Scientifically advanced gut supplement formulated to support stomach and hindgut health and maintain overall digestive function. Contains 12 key ingredients including prebiotics, probiotics and B-vitamins
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Supplementing for Foal Sales Prep Success
Having survived foaling, faced the trials of a British or Irish summer, and then the stress of weaning; young foals have already endured a lot. The next challenge for some of those foals is to go through prepping for the winter foal sales. Early born foals will likely be bigger and stronger and ready for prepping. However, late born foals may be in need of a bit more attention to detail throughout prepping in order to measure up to their slightly senior counterparts.
Careful management of these foals leading up to and across the prepping period is essential to optimise growth and ensure genuine soundness. Foals destined for the sales need to reach optimum condition, have a balanced topline, coupled with a sound eye-catching walk and coat shine at the right time to maximise success in the sales ring.
What feeds should I have my sales foal on?
Without a consistent and appropriate base diet for your foal, prepping will not go well. Protein, energy, vitamins and minerals are all key considerations, but balance is essential! Equally as important as hard feed, is having free access to top quality forage, this will support and maintain gastric and hind gut health, allowing your foal to keep well and ensure full utilisation of all nutrients going in.
Feed and forage should be the foundations of your foals prepping diet and for further information on feeding foals for sales prep please read more here.
Be mindful of energy intake
Overfeeding calories or under-feeding micronutrients may put them at increased risk of developmental orthopaedic diseases (DODs) which will not only affect sales price but may also influence future potential on the track. The introduction of exercise during prep should be gradual and adjusted to suit each foal’s physical condition and ability; excessively overloading the joints, especially the knees, can result in physitis.
The remainder of this article will focus on how to gain those all important extra margins of improvement and balance through the use of some key supplements; allowing you to tailor the dietary support to the individual foal’s need or address any areas of concern.
Slow and steady growth is best. Genetics is now better understood in terms of how individual foals may have an increased susceptibility to developmental issues and understanding this and tailoring the diet can be beneficial. It is important that diet allows a gradual increase in body condition, especially for foals that are smaller and lighter at the start of prep, rushing in to boost condition can have consequences and it is imperative that the push for optimal condition is not overdone, as it can exacerbate orthopaedic problems and/or cause obesity; for example, overfeeding a foal with straight limbs may cause them to go ‘upright’.
Monitor calorie intake. For foals that are ‘overtopped’ or showing signs of developmental problems it may be necessary to restrict energy intake by reducing the amount of feed they receive. Bear in mind that a decrease in feed quantity will also result in a reduced micronutrient intake. Similarly, later born foals can often experience periods of ‘compensatory’ growth during prep and their growth plates are clearly going to be more open than those of a foal born early in the year. Consequently, it’s essential that calorie intake in not excessive, but that the diet remains fully balanced. Both these situations can be easily addressed by adding in an all-round nutrient supplement such as Foran Equine Chevinal which is a liquid vitamin and mineral balancer to an individual’s daily ration. Managing protein and energy intake, workload and key nutrient supply, are all integral in avoiding developmental issues.
Should I feed additional copper to my sales foal?
As nutritionists we get lots of questions about why copper is so important – it is so crucial to various aspects of youngstock development. Copper supplementation has a multitude of potential benefits for your foal and the need for copper should never be underestimated; check the levels in your hard feed and forage to determine if your foal may benefit form an additional supply. Grazing pastures across the UK and Ireland are renowned for being deficient in copper and as the mares milk is not efficient at providing copper through lactation, the reserves the foal has at birth are often very depleted following weaning. Copper acts as an essential co-factor (a substance that helps enzymes cause a reaction), for numerous enzymes including lysol-oxidase, which is fundamental to cartilage formation. It supports antioxidant function and therefore immune health, and is key to ensuring your foals coat colour is vibrant, as it is needed for the production of melanin, the pigment that determines the colour and depth of that colour. Copper also is integral to maintaining healthy connective tissues, such as tendons and ligaments.
Foran Equine’s Coppervit, combines chelated copper and manganese to support skeletal and cartilage development, as well as coat pigmentation, and has vitamin E to support immune function and vitamin B12 to help maintain appetite. Coppervit will provide your foal with a consistent optimal supply of copper to ensure all these key functions are supported.
How do I build my foal’s topline?
Topline is a common term in all aspects of the equine industry, referring to the muscles along the horse’s back and neck. These muscles can be developed through specific exercises and while no shortcut can be used in place of exercise to enhance topline, providing the right nutrition is a vital component to support muscular development too.
Protein is essential when it comes to building topline. Protein is made up of amino acids, often referred to as the building blocks for muscles. Some of these amino acids are described as ‘essential’ as the horse cannot naturally produce them, and so they must be supplemented in the diet. Lysine is an example of an essential amino acid and plays a key role in muscle development.
One way to provide additional quality protein to your foal’s diet is through supplementation with a product such as Muscle Prep. Muscle Prep is a daily liquid supplement that contains high-quality hydrolysed plant protein, specially formulated to support muscle development in youngstock. Muscle Prep also provides additional vitamin E to your foal, ensuring efficient muscle function and recovery to reduce soreness following those early introductions to work, as well as a supply of B vitamins to support energy levels.
How can I make my foal’s coat shine?
Foal coats can be a challenge and are going through various natural changes at this time of year. Grooming can help to improve the appearance, but diet also plays a key role in coat health. A naturally glossy coat requires a high-quality balanced diet, rich in essential fatty acids including omega-3 and 6, in the correct ratio.
Oil is undoubtedly the most widely used supplement during sales prep and with good reason. However, not all oils are equal! Foran Equine’s Kentucky Karron Oil is an emulsified linseed oil rich in omega 3 fatty acids. The benefits of omega 3 fatty acids are widely reported and include positive effects on the immune and respiratory systems, as well as providing a healthy, shiny coat for the sales ring.
As previously mentioned copper is key to optimising coat colour and a Coppervit and Kentucky Karron Oil combination will enhance coat appearance as well as taking care of so many internal factors as well.
What digestive support can I offer my foals when being prepped for sale?
The husbandry and daily routine changes that occur during sales prep can cause stress for these young horses. Increased levels of stress plus dietary changes such as going from grass to a conserved forage and increasing levels of hard feed may negatively impact hindgut health, reducing the production of B vitamins form the microorganisms that inhabit the hindgut of the foal. This can lead to digestive problems such as diarrhoea, weight loss, and decreased efficiency of nutrient absorption.
Foran Equine Nutri-Gard can support all round digestive health and function for the developing foal, environmental changes, worming, dietary changes all add additional stress to the gut which we now understand can have lengthy consequences on everything from immune health to temperament and behaviour. Nutri-Gard provides multiple ingredients to benefit the foals digestion and overall wellbeing:
- Postbiotic to promote optimal gut and immune health.
- Prebiotic to feed and maintain a healthy hindgut microbiome.
- B-vitamins to promote appetite and optimise feed utilisation.
- Pectin to help buffer stomach acid.
- L-Threonine an amino acid essential for mucin production which lines and protects the digestive tract.
- DL-Methionine an essential amino acid to aid intestinal enzyme activity and efficient digestion.
- Oat fibre which is naturally rich in beta-glucans known to support mucosal integrity.
- Nutri-Gard boosts a delicious apple flavour making it highly palatable ensuring it will not affect your foals willingness to eat up.
How do I keep my foal calm and focused in the sale ring?
Although no one at the sales will expect angelic and impeccable behaviour from these very young horses, undesirable behaviour can still impact the selling success of your foals. Nutri-Calm, can help to support calm behaviour and better focus in foals with ingredients such as L-tryptophan, B vitamins and magnesium. L-tryptophan is an essential amino acid and is also the pre-cursor to serotonin, the hormone responsible for the inhibition of fear and stress. The addition of B vitamins and magnesium also helps support nervous function and work synergistically to optimise focus and concentration. Nutri-Calm is available as a daily liquid or an easily administered gel in a convenient syringe.
While there is no magic formula to producing the ideal foal for the sales ring, the key to a successful preparation is to produce a foal that buyers want. The use of appropriate nutrition to meet requirements and support physiological adaptation, alongside the use of supplements to benefit skeletal and muscle development, immune function, coat condition, digestive health and temperament can help produce a foal that will catch the buyer’s eye and benefit your sales success.
If you need further advice regarding your sales foals or have any other queries please contact the team.
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Kentucky Karron Oil
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Chevinal
The ultimate liquid multivitamin, mineral and essential amino acid supplement for optimal nutrition
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Coppervit
Chelated minerals, antioxidant and B Vitamins combined to support growth and development
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Muscle Prep
Optimise muscle development and topline condition utilising readily absorbed protein
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