This message is from: "Mary Ellen Thomas" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
This is from Mel Thomas As I was reading the comments on diet & the fjord horse, I was reminded of a conversation I had with a Purina Representative (Who had lots of initials behind his name, but his name escapes me now) We had a one day nutrition & lameness & vaccination seminar last October. The entire day was very rewarding, except for this conversation. I cornered him at lunch, just after he had given information on nutritional needs of horses (and touted Purina Feeds) but he kept talking about the recommended nutritional requirements. I wanted to know if any studies had been done regarding different horse breeds & nutritional requirements. You probably know where I'm headed with this question. I did manage to get him to admit all the data compiled over 75 years (I think) and all current data being compiled & hyped is for the quarter horse & thoroughbred breeds. And Purina lumps Arabian, Morgan, Saddlebred & all other light horses in that catagory. I asked him if any data had ever been compiled (or even discussed) about "Other" breeds, i.e. Fjords, Drafts, warmbloods etc., No data has been compiled, or even defined for compilation regarding any other breed other than the light horse. A horse is a horse is a horse (in Purina's mind). I expressed my dismay, and asked who or where I'd write to begin an inquiry. Really look at the back of a bag of feed. The recommended (suggested) feeding directions, in order to have the recommended daily nutritional requirements is extremely excessive for most fjord horses. I questioned this "rep" about what I should feed a fjord. His response, "You are obviously a knowledgeable horse person, adjust the feed recommendations for your own animals." I got irritated at that because the people who are new to the fjord breed (or horses in general) would be much more likely to feed the recommended amount of feed (both hay & grain) and could do serious damage, rapidly to their own horse.. Yes I may be knowledgeable, but my husband isn't & keeps asking me how I judge how much to give our pasture horses, and when to change from winter feed to summer & all the other questions intelligent, new horse owners should ask. And, maybe our horses are missing out on something important. Will they grow well, or just adequately? Am I giving them too much of one nutrient. If 8 lbs daily is necessary to get all the recommended daily nutrition, am I harming them by giving them just 1 lb daily. Are they only getting 12.5% of the nutrition they need. They look healthy on the outside, but what about inside. He never answered my question to my satisfaction, and turned away and started talking to someone else. (He did say, if you don't want to feed the grain, buy our supplements & just feed them. I asked if the supplements are also taylored to the QH & TB breeds. Of course.) Not a very good end to an important conversation. Maybe we should talk to the feed manufacturers in Norway or Holland & see if they may have some nutritional recommendations. Or at least did studies to compare nutritional rquirements of light & medium or heavy horse breeds. Currently, it is such a guessing game. How much calcium, phosphorous, vitamins, minerals, etc? Do the fjords need as much nutrient and in the same amounts as the QH & TB? Yes, I am opening a can of worms. Everyone has their opinion. But wouldn't it be great to have a study or data to be able to point to and have a reference to go by. Our horses are not like any other breed. They don't look like QH or TB's, they don't train like them, they don't grow like them. What makes us think the nutritional requirements would be the same? Sorry for the sermon. The recent questions on feeding brought up the conversation & I haven't found a way to resolve it yet. & I haven't had time to see if there is information available. So, I'll put it out to my new friends on the list. Does anyone know of any studies done on feeding requrements (nutritional) for any other type of horse than the light horse? Does anyone else think it's important? Mel Thomas >From still rainy Snohomish, WA (and the weather guessers think snow on Sunday)
