Horse Health, Immune Support, Transporting Horses, Uncategorised

Top Tips to keep your horse healthy during transport

Even short periods of transportation can be stressful to horses and cause detrimental changes to the microbial population in the horse’s gut. On longer trips, a combination of stress and respiratory challenges may lead to travel sickness.

Arriving safely and on-time at your destination relies on your ability to minimize both anxiety and physiological stress to support the horse’s gut, airways and immune system and minimize the risk of injury and misbehaviour.

In this article we offer guidelines to help your horses arrive at their destination in a healthier state and ready to perform to their potential.

  • Feed lucerne hay 20 minutes prior to loading.
  • Allow the horse to lower the head to clear airways during extended journeys.
  • If feeding hay in the float or truck, steam or soak it and give below head height to reduce airway contamination.
  • Take regular breaks (preferably at least 20 minutes every 4 hours).
  • Provide fresh water at every rest stop (you may need a ‘flavour’ or bring water from home until your horse adapts to the taste of ‘new’ water).
  • Provide food at ground level and encourage grazing to allow mucous to clear the airways at every rest stop.
  • Ensure horses have access to long stem roughage at least every 2-4 hours for gut health and to reduce the risk of gastric ulcers.
  • Provide salt and/or a commercial electrolyte such as Farmalogic Replenish to replace electrolytes lost through sweat.
  • Supplement with Farmalogic Rejuvenate Paste, Farmalogic B-Good Paste or Farmalogic Mega-B Boosta as a source live yeast probiotics.
  • Give additional antioxidants with Farmalogic Melox to boost the immune system and prevent tissue damage caused by oxidative stress.

Guidelines to help your horses arrive at their destination in a healthier state and ready to perform to their potential.

  • Click here to learn about the health risks in transporting horses.
  • Click here for Tips to prepare for transport
  • Click here for Tips for recovery from transport

Find out more about Farmalogic Equine products at www.farmalogicglobal.com or message us!

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