At a nutrition lecture

A representative of the St. Hippolyt feed brand has been touring Finland this spring giving lectures on horse nutrition. I attended the lecture myself. I was pleased to find that the lecture was informative, even though it was organized by the feed brand. The lecture covered the basics of nutrition, and I was particularly interested in the section on nutrition-related diseases. These include, among others, laminitis, metabolic syndrome, stomach ulcers, and summer rash. Summer rash occurs especially in native breeds, such as Icelandic horses and Finnish horses. The problem may be helped by nutrition, as native breeds often have different mineral needs than other horses. Among other things, the connection between zinc deficiency and many ailments was emphasized, and simply adding zinc to the diet has been found to have a healing effect on, for example, scurvy. Feeding planning should always be based on hay analysis. The lecturer also emphasized that it is not advisable to radically change feeding before consulting a veterinarian. I received some St. Hippolyt feed samples from the lecture. I am already familiar with the brand, but at the end of the lecture it was nice to hear a short update on the latest range.