Grain intolerance

[Alex]

This whole feed issue can be very controversial. After my warmblood showed some rather strange behavioural problems under saddle and then later when not under saddle as well, I did a lot of research and came up with grain intolerance in horses. After adjusting his food accordingly a lot of the issues dissappeared. It seems that many horses, especially warmbloods and draught horses, are unable to digest the carbohydrates in grains. This leads to muscle pain and ultimately muscle wastage. It has also been proved that this is the main cause of azoturia. Some very interesting info on this subject can be found at www.ruralheritage.com then you do a search on EPSM

[Andree Lewarne]

We started the changeover to grain free feed and oil on 8th June. It was done very slowly, literally 150ml at a time. I started seeing changes after two weeks, both behavioural and physical. When I say behaviour, I do not mean that he ever got silly or anything under saddle, his innate nature never changed. But he stopped "fighting" with his concentrates. He always threw his feed into his bedding and flung his feedbin around, or scooped his feed out of the crib in a very irritated way. Now, he stands quietly, head down, eating in a relaxed and calm way. He still flings his feedbin around, but now it's after he has eaten.
His demeanour has improved. he is a very laidback and friendly horse, and now shows his obvious enjoyment when I do something with him in hand. His eye is also brighter - he definitely feels better, and is showing that in his attitude to everything.
Under saddle, he is more attentive to my aids, more willing to move and do the work, and far more interested in what is going on around him. I walked him for about two weeks after we started changing as he was very stiff. This was boring, so I put down a lot of trotting poles, cavalettis, uprights for bending poles etc in our field. Belarus was fascinated by everything and very quickly saw if there was something new. And he wanted to try everything.

His coat condition has improved, as has his muscle tone. He was always stiff, but now is able to give over his back, and although stil stiff after a lesson, he loosens up faster, and is stiff for shorter periods.