Feed additives!!!

Very interesting article, ive read similar before...which is why i stopped feeding garlic last year...(after 17 years of feeding it!!)

We used to feed Apple cider vinegar and salt in the summer months when we were competitng, cant say whether they worked or not

We used to feed veg oil too...but heard a while back that it contained a lot of metal toxins and that horses had trouble digesting it, so stopped that too!

So now, its lots of grass, ad lib haylage and pasture mix, we are trying to go back to basics-the horses do look good on it, not to mention the cost savings...
 
CMMB said:
Can I ask why you would want to feed these (except the salt)?
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Garlic for flies and i ve heard that it cleanses the blood and i was just wondering about apple cider vinegar since i ve heard its really good. What do you think ?


( especially for the apple cider vinegar)
 
There is no published evidence that garlic is a fly repellant - I've also seen many horses fed garlic with plenty of flies on them. The term "cleanses the blood" is nonsense really - that's what the liver and kidneys do and I am not aware of any work to suggest garlic enhances their function. There is some suggestion that the allacin in garlic which is mainly excreted through the respiratory tract (hence we smell garlic on the breathe after eating it) may act as a respiratory antiseptic. Allacin liquid was shown to have an antibacterial effect on MRSA grown in the lab.

I am not sure what apple cider vinegar is meant to do?
 
Garlic used to make my old mare ill, she'd be lethargic and dull if it was added to her feed and would perk up again when it was stopped, clearly she was more sensitive to it that other horses. I won't feed it to any of my current horses because of the bad effect it has on the 'friendly' bacteria in the gut, incidentally I have IBS and garlic makes me ill too.

Not sure about the apple cider vinegar, theres a theory that its too acidic to feed to horses? Not sure but its not something I feed.

Salt is a definite yes...

http://www.calmhealthyhorses.co.nz/whattodo.php#salt
http://beefmagazine.com/mag/beef_dont_short_salt/
 
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