A Selection of Articles from Recent Issues of Welsh Breeds News

• WORMING ADVICE FOR AUTUMN
• Hay Shortage? Spillers' Advice.
• From The Chairman, and Show Secretary SEWPCA
• Laminitis can kill - warns the Blue Cross
• EMWPCA SHOW - Sec A Results. 25th April 2010
• Scurry driver sings praises of SPILLERS HAPPY HOOF®
• Correction Re: Midlands WPCA Foal Show 2009 report in Issue 74.
• Abandoned pony highlights importance of identification
• Be safe and save money with SPILLERS HAPPY HOOF®
• Blue Cross Appeal for homes for lead rein ponies
• Gwynedd Welsh Pony & Cob Breeders Association Results
• DATES FOR YOUR DIARY
• KEEPING YOUR HORSES SAFE IN WINTER. Advice from the Blue Cross.
• Blue Cross FAT HORSE SLIM Campaign.
• SEWPCA 2009 WPCS BRONZE MEDAL SUMMER SHOW RESULTS.
• FAYRE OAKS SALE 2009
• PHOTOGRAPHS
• Gwynedd Welsh Pony & Cob Breeders Association Show Results 25-5-09
• WPCS Spring Sale Prices, 9th May 2009.
• We'd love to hear from you!
• A lovely Poem
• SPILLERS® help reduce the risk of laminitis
• Royal Welsh Cob Sale October 2008 Prices
• FAYRE OAKS SALE PRICES 2008
• Notts/Derby Charity Bonanza Results 29-12-2008
• HAY SALE RESULTS 4th & 5th OCTOBER 2008
• IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENTS!
• Hay Horse and Pony Show Results 27th July 2008. Report and photographs in Issue 66, out in October.
• Lampeter Stallion Show Results 2008. Report and Photographs in Issue 64 of Welsh Breeds News.
• Feet V Fashion
• Feeding Foals
• Ups and Downs at Avonvalley and Beyond
• Diabetes in Horses
• Equine Parasite Control
• Grass Sickness by Rachael Conwell BVetMed CertEM MRCVS
• An Avoidable Tragedy by Jane Lane
• Foal Handling: A feature by John Jones, Horse Listener

FEEDING FOALS: Tina Archer

Feeding Foals

On several occasions recently, I have been asked for advice on how to feed foals. Buying and owning a foal for the first time needs different management from owning an adult horse or pony.

It helps if there is an understanding of how the digestive systems works in the horse. So here I will give a very brief summary of how food passes from "one end to the other".

Once food has been thoroughly chewed in the mouth and mixed with saliva it passes down the esophagus into the stomach.

A horses’s stomach is very small in comparison to the size of the animal. Ruminents stomachs’ carry 70% capacity of the intestinal track, horses are not classified as ruminents, but are monogastric. The stomach of the horse has only a 10% capacity. This tells us that the horse’s stomach cannot digest large amounts of feed at one time. Should large feeds be given then the food will not absorb enough of the gastric juices in the stomach.

The stomach empties when it is two thirds full, and food only averages about twenty minutes in the stomach. By this you will see that little and often is the rule and to feed large meals is not at all beneficial to the horse. On the other side of the coin a horse needs to have a constant flow of feed, as they are designed to be grazing animals. In fact if the stomach is empty and remains empty then ulcers or worst still a stomach rupture could occur. The latter leading to death........

This is a short extract taken from an article by Tina Archer in issue 61 of Welsh Breeds News. If you have any queries regarding feeding your Welsh pony or cob foal  you need to read this as soon as possible.