I had the privilege to attend an international conference
over the weekend, hosted by the European Equine Health & Nutrition
Congress. I traveled to the city of
Ghent, Belgium where the University of Ghent hosted the conference, titled “Feeding
for Gastrointestinal Health.” Over the two days, there were multiple talks
related to equine nutrition and GI health and here are take home messages from a
selection of them. If you are interested
in learning more about this topic, a well-organized and referenced proceedings
was published at the conference and can be ordered through the following
website: http://www.equine-congress.com/en/home
On the first day of the conference, I signed up for a
workshop titled “Dental pathologies with GI consequences & dietary
solutions.” For two hours we discussed case studies of horses with poor,
neglected dentition and their current feeding programs. We all agreed that with proper and careful
dental care and alterations in feeding programs, horses can be put back on the
right track. Take home message: Be
proactive about dental care, especially for Senior horses. Utilizing higher fat and fiber feedstuffs can
help increase caloric density of rations and compensate for weight loss/lack of
intake that may result from painful dental conditions.
