Horse Vitamin and Mineral Supplements Explained & How to Use Them
As a horse owner, you want only the best for your livestock. Proper diet and nutrition are an incredibly important part of keeping your horses healthy, and it’s no different than it is with us, humans. But when we’re feeding our horses, we oftentimes only pay attention to the major components of the diet – such as does the horse consume enough hay, pasture, charr of hard feed. And when we want to get more peculiar about the diet, we oftentimes refer to the amount of protein in the feed, but not the other nutrients. However, it’s the intake of these “other” nutrients that help horses stay healthy. The intake of vitamins and minerals, in particular, can be crucial factors to their performance, growth, reproduction and immune function. Here’s what horse vitamin and mineral supplement products can do for your horse.
Minerals
Minerals are divided into two broad categories – macro and micro minerals, based on the amount required in the horse’s diet. Macrominerals are required in greater quantities, and some of the more known ones include calcium, magnesium, sodium, sulphur, phosphorus, potassium and chlorine. These minerals are essential to the activity of the nervous system, development of the skeleton, acid-base balance, muscle contraction, hair and hoof growth. Micro minerals, on the other hand, are only required in smaller dosages. Some of the necessary micro minerals include iron, copper, zinc, selenium, iodine and selenium. The purpose of micro minerals is to help the body metabolise nutrients, maintain joint and connective tissue, act as antioxidants and assist in oxygen transport.
Vitamins
Vitamins are just as important in the horse diet. They’re classified as either water- or fat-soluble based on how they’re stored inside the body. Notable fat-soluble vitamins are A, D and E. These three vitamins are crucial for calcium regulation and absorption, vision and antioxidants within the body protecting muscle function and cells. Fat-soluble vitamins, as their name implies, are stored inside the fat deposits of the body and can result in unwanted effects if overfed. Water-soluble vitamins are also known as B-vitamins, and they include riboflavin, thiamin, biotin, niacin and folic acid. These vitamins serve a purpose in almost every chemical reaction in the body and are therefore of utmost importance in growth, metabolism and energy generation. B-vitamins are “created” by healthy bacteria inside the digestive system of the horse, and specific requirements have been established for riboflavin and thiamin only.
Detecting Vitamin and Mineral Deficiencies
Many horse owners are oblivious to the mineral and vitamin content, simply because mild deficiencies are difficult to notice visually. For instance, a calorie deficiency in the diet of the horse can easily be noticed through weight loss. Deficiency in protein can be noticed as poor growth or rough hair coat. But deficiencies in vitamins and minerals are more difficult to notice until the conditions become severe. However, there are some less obvious signs that are present if you look closely. For instance, brittle, cracked hooves can be the result of zinc deficiency. A crooked legged foal, on the other hand, can be the result of trace mineral deficiency of a broodmare diet.
The Simplest, Ideal Solution
So how do you make sure your horses’ diet is properly fortified with all the essential vitamins and minerals. The easiest approach would be to feed them a prepared feed or supplement them with horse vitamin and mineral supplement products. There are many different supplements available nowadays, so you should compare products based on concentration and variety of minerals and vitamins included. If the goal of supplementation is to increase the nutrient content of the horses’ diet, pick a supplement that has a broader variety of minerals and vitamins. However, if there’s a lack of a specific mineral or vitamin, then a targeted supplement with a higher concentration of the said vitamin or mineral would be more appropriate.
How to Properly Feed Your Horse Their Supplements
It’s important to pay close attention to the recommended feeding rates, usage instructions and use-by dates. Using supplements that aren’t meant for horses, or overfeeding the supplement can be wasteful, if not straight out dangerous for your horse. Horses have limited capacity when it comes to absorbing some nutrients, like iron, for example. Over supplementing can lead to the excess nutrients being eliminated. While there are some nutrients that have unlimited absorption, such as iodine, over supplementing them can be toxic for your horse. Also, vitamins can become unstable over time and the vitamin content can’t be guaranteed past the product’s use-by date. It’s best you consult with a veterinarian or an equine nutrition expert so they can give you the recommended dose for your horse. At the end of the day, supplements are a great, easy way to make sure your horse gets the extra nutrients it needs in their diet, to ensure proper growth and optimal health.
When and How to Use Hand Sanitisers in the Workplace
Throughout the workday, people use their hands to open doors, write reports, shake hands with clients, etc. All these activities expose you to harmful germs and bacteria, and now in the midst of a worldwide Covid-19 epidemic, proper hygiene and disinfection have become more important than ever. About 80% of all infections are transmitted by hands, so implementing effective hand hygiene at work is important. Most Australians spend more time Monday through Friday at work than anywhere else. Plus, a fair amount of workers go to work even when they’re ill, making workplaces a hotbed for bacteria and germs.
Reasons to Implement Collagen Supplements in Your Diet
As one of the most important proteins, collagen is responsible for various biological functions, from providing support in the connective tissue and muscle, to promoting skin elasticity, bone and joint health. Though our bodies produce collagen naturally, this production starts slowing down when we start ageing. This is one of the main reasons for the appearance of ageing signs, such as wrinkles, as it gets harder for the skin to get back into its shape.
Sheds: Valuable Additions to the Home
Now that living spaces are becoming smaller and smaller, with cities growing bigger and being more densely populated, it’s certainly considered a blessing to be living in a house with sufficient amount of outdoor space; within Australia, think of Melbourne and Sydney, for example, as some of the more crowded cities.
Even if your house and yard aren’t as big as you want them to be, you could still make the most out of them with one simple addition: a shed. What’s great about making an investment of this kind is that you have the chance to choose from a wide range of options in terms of materials, design, colour and size. So, if, for instance, you don’t like a bulky design made of wood or plastic in grey colour, you can always opt for a compact 3×3 meter shed made of sturdy stainless steel in green, beige or brown.
Since there are plenty of options on the market, you can easily find the right shed that suits your taste and budget. Plus, there is a range of different environmentally-friendly designs, like eco sheds made of high-tensile steel that has a low environmental impact. For those who don’t mind DIY projects, sheds with the SNAPTiTe system are a great choice as they are very easy to install. Now, let’s look at the reasons why welcoming a shed into your garden is a smart move.
The Ideal Storage Solution
When living in a small home, one thing is for sure – you need all the storage you can get. And that’s exactly what a shed provides. Any item that you don’t have space for at home or items that are scattered and used in your yard can be neatly stored in the shed, out of sight to passers-by and visitors.
It’s considerably easier to organize a 3×3 meter shed when compared with the indoor space of your home because you can add various types of shelves, pegboards or cubbies to sort out your belongings. This could also free up some valuable space in your home that your family can use – think of the basement and attic as extra rooms!
In terms of gardening, it’s needless to say that a garden shed can help make things easier since it can store the dangerous tools and chemicals, such as pliers, rakes and fertilizers. This way, they will be also stored and protected from the elements when not in use, which means you can easily find what you need, saving yourself a great deal of time.
A Multi-Functional Design
The shed doesn’t necessarily have to be meant for storage of your tools and belongings only. It can be whatever you want and need it to be. If you’ve ever felt like you could do with some more space, then it’s time to rejoice the addition of a shed. It can be used to create your own home gym so you can exercise on a daily basis, a playhouse for the kids where they can have fun making a mess without you getting mad about it, or a “man cave” and “she cave” where you can have the peace and quiet you require to meditate and curb the side effects of stress.
Moreover, when you grow tired of certain use of this unit, you could always transform it into something else; depending on its size, you could also make it your artwork atelier, a separate office where you can work in peace or even a place for outdoor entertainment if you love throwing parties. In other words, you’ve got all the freedom you want when it comes to using a garden shed.
An Increase in Home Value
Given that it’s such a multi-purpose piece, and offers tons of benefits, a garden shed can certainly increase the value of your home as well. Even if you aren’t planning on selling now, in case you ever decide to do so, the value of your home on the market would certainly increase thanks to the shed being such an asset.
A Design of Your Own
As I already made it clear, there are all sorts of shed designs you can choose from, but that doesn’t mean you can’t have your role in finishing off the design you opt for. Other than deciding the colour of the 3m x 3m shed, for example, you can also count on the chance to have it personalized. This is possible thanks to some great accessories such as skylight sheets and sliding windows if you’re up for bringing more light and style, or timber flooring kits that work especially well with portable sheds in non-cyclonic areas.
The Daybed: A Multi-Functional Piece of Furniture You’re Sure to Love
Now that social distancing and staying at home are one of the main ways to prevent the spreading of the coronavirus, we’re starting to realize how important the furniture in our home is and the level of comfort it provides. While sure, aesthetics is also an important factor, it doesn’t really make much of a difference whether you’ll be powering through your 40-hour workweek sitting on a blue or beige sofa.
A couple of months ago I purchased a fancy day bed in a modern design with button diamond tufts which I intended to use in my home office mainly as a decorative piece. Little did I know that it would soon turn into an accent piece in my living room! Thanks to their hybrid design, daybeds are something between a sofa and a bed, so by getting one you get to reap the benefits of both. Here are some of them. Read More
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They say your health is your biggest wealth and I couldn’t agree more with that. But still, many people forget that most of the time the devil lies in the details and that our daily routines and habits can make a world of difference in our overall health. Take our sedentary lifestyle for example. Most office jobs involve sitting in one position for hours on end, which consequently poses a threat to our well-being. Read More
When Vegan Friends Come to Dinner: The Dos & Don’ts
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Creating a Modern Conference Room: Design Tips
As you start setting up your office, you need to put a lot of emphasis on your conference room and make sure it’s properly equipped to cater to your employees’ and clients’ needs. The design of a conference room is of great importance as employees and members will spend quite a lot of time there, so you want it to promote comfort and productivity. Read More
Mother’s Day Gift Ideas: Spoil Her with a Sweet Surprise
The only love we can count on for a lifetime is on the love of our moms. They are the one person we were directly connected to even when still in the womb, which explains the special connection. Since Mother’s day is coming soon, you can spoil her with a unique gift to show your love and appreciation. This doesn’t mean that you need to try too hard or spend too much… Remember that spending an afternoon with her and a long hug is what she’d like the most, but here are some simple ideas that are sure to warm her heart.
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What is Constipation?
Constipation is a condition where bowel movements occur less than normal or are extremely tough. It is considered that this condition can/will happen to anyone at some point in their life, and this can be associated with many factors. Firstly, constipation can be caused by an anatomical issue like a pelvic flow dysfunction, for example, but it can also be associated with endocrine or metabolic disorders. This could be pregnancy, diabetes, hypercalcemia, hypothyroidism, etc. On the other hand, constipation can also be associated with some neurologic disorders like Parkinson disease and multiple sclerosis, or it could be associated with connective tissue disorders and eating disorders. Whatever the type of constipation, a lot of people decide to take aperients medication as to relieve the symptoms. Read More
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Drain (inspection) cameras are known as borescopes, but even experienced plumbers like myself don’t call it that. The latter is a more technical term for an instrument that is used in all kinds of industries and applications. A drain (inspection) camera allows you to view certain places where it’s physically impossible for a human being to fit. Although when it comes to sewer inspection, there are two types of cameras, I’ve come to realise that there are multiple factors which affect the quality and effectiveness of both.