What does a nutrition consult include?

IYou might be wondering- why do I need a consultation? Or what all do I get when I sign up for a consultation? Well, we're here to answer your questions on anything horse related.

For starters, the most basic process that we do is to evaluate your current ration. We look at what your horse needs on a daily basis, and what you are currently feeding them. We then evaluate how their diet is meeting their requirements, and if there are any "holes" or gaps where some nutrients may be deficient, or some might be in excess. We provide you with not only a write-up, but also visual depictions of what your diet looks like compared to your horses' needs. It is important that we have as detailed information as possible, including not only what you are feeding, but the amounts that you are feeding them to your horse.
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Here's an example of a diet that we evaluated for a recent client. ​

This graph shows how each nutrient is doing at meeting the horses' needs as a percent of requirements. Some nutrients like Magnesium and Calcium were very close to meeting their needs almost exactly. However, Iron (Fe) was excessive, exceeding requirements by about 225%. We were then able to come up with several diet options based on what feedstuffs the client had available to create a diet that better matched the horse's needs. 

We also evaluate nutrient ratios, because nutrients interact with one another. Some, like Selenium and Vitamin E, can enhance the action of the other. Others, such as Copper, can interfere with Selenium absorption (we will address some of these in future blog posts). Therefor it is important that they are not only provided in adequate amounts in the diet, but also that they are in appropriate amounts in reference to other nutrients. 

​We are also happy to evaluate all of your forages and their nutrient quality, or if you are interested in comparing supplements, we are happy to do that as well. We can research the supplements that you are interested in, and provide you with a concise write up regarding the research surrounding that product, and how it might work for your horse. Same goes for various feeds or forages, we are happy to do the leg work for you and evaluate which might be best, looking at both effectiveness for your horse as well as economics for you. 
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So contact us today to evaluate how your feeding regimen suits your horse(s)!