When to Hire an Equine Nutritionist
An equine nutritionist can be a great resource for helping you navigate any number of health issues with your horse, from performance concerns to chronic illness, and everything in between. While an equine nutritionist cannot make a medical diagnosis, they can take information from previous diagnoses and make a diet plan that can help your horse to reach their full potential from the inside out.
Some things you should know before you work with a nutritionist:
They’ll save you money in the long run on vet bills, unnecessary supplements, and more
Change doesn’t happen over night. Give it six months to year on your prescribed diet before assuming it isn’t working. Especially if your horse is deficient, it can take time to build up their body stores.
There are many nutritionists out there. Some work for particular companies, some are independent. Some are veterinarians, some are simply certified in nutrition alone. Find the one that works best for you and your beliefs.
So how do you know when you should work with an equine nutritionist?
Weight or Metabolic Issues
If your horse struggles with either keeping weight on or off, or has been diagnosed with cushings, pssm, or another metabolic disorder, diet will play a critical role in your horse’s health management and recovery. A skilled equine nutritionist can help you develop a diet to get your horse to a healthy weight and manage long term wellness.
Topline or Muscle Recovery
If your equine athlete has trouble maintaining topline or is slow to recover from an athletic event, diet may play a larger role than you think. While bodywork and proper exercise routines can certainly help, it will all be for nothing if your horse doesn’t have the proper building blocks in place to build the muscle to begin with. An equine nutritionist can help you develop a diet with all the right amino acids to build and maintain muscle.
Hoof, Hair, or Coat Concerns
Hooves, hair and coat are the last things to be served nutritionally by the body. Therefore, seeing issues in these areas almost always indicates a deficiency somewhere in the body. An equine nutritionist can help you navigate the confusing world of mineral balances to find deficiencies and treat them.
Ulcers, Colic, and Other Digestive Issues
As we all know, digestion is nothing to mess around with in our equine partners. When colic rears its ugly head we all will do just about anything to find answers. Nutrition has a huge role to play in a normally functioning digestive system. If your horse struggles with digestion, an equine nutritionist should be at the top of your resource list.
And so much more
Nutrition can play a key role in all kinds of health management strategies, including energy levels, aging, gestation/lactation, joint health, and the list goes on, and on, and on. Check out Ruby Doss Equine for more equine nutrition resources.