#KENTUCKY PERFORMANCE PRODUCTS
Thoroughbred Logic, Presented by Kentucky Performance Products: They Don’t Care If They Show
“I have to remind myself that if I’m not on top of my competition game for a couple months … they don’t care. They are safe, and fed and cared for.” (more…)
Weekend Wellness, by Kentucky Performance Products: Is Sweet Itch Driving Your Horse Crazy?
Summer seasonal recurrent dermatitis (SSRD) or sweet itch, is caused by an allergic reaction to the saliva of the Culicoides midge (“no-see-ums”). These bothersome fellows are active from April through October. Here are some tips to help you offer your horse some relief. (more…)
Thoroughbred Logic, Presented by Kentucky Performance Products: Hold Don’t Pull
“Reward the try, and as the situation arises again, ask again. The half-halt through a full-body hold, allows them to learn. Pulling takes that opportunity off the table.” (more…)
Thoroughbred Logic, Presented by Kentucky Performance Products: Make It Predictable
“Each day, we change it up a bit … While I fully believe that keeping it interesting and challenging their brain is a huge plus, these smart but sometimes-anxious horses also need to know how to get the answer right.” (more…)
The Importance of a Proper Cool-Down Period, Presented by Kentucky Performance Products
Horses work hard. And when they do, they produce heat and sweat. Cooling down your horse appropriate is hugely important to their health and well being. Read on for more. (more…)
Thoroughbred Logic, Presented by Kentucky Performance Products: Good Grids
“It is often the slow repetitive progression through without rider interference that helps them think and slow their brain and thus, their feet…” (more…)
Weekend Wellness From Kentucky Performance Products: Feeding the Overweight Horse in Spring
Earlier this year we discussed healthy spring feeding tips for the underweight horse. Now it’s time to address how to feed the overweight horse when the grass starts to come in and there seems to be food to be had everywhere. (more…)
Thoroughbred Logic, Presented by Kentucky Performance Products: Lifting the Core & the Ruler Metaphor
“Simply put, to ‘come over its back,’ a horse must engage its core.”
Thoroughbred Logic, Presented by Kentucky Performance Products: Pain or Behavior?
“I imagine that, like people, there are no horses who feel no discomfort when asked to work. They will have sore joints, eventually tired muscles, sometimes a tweak of pain here or there. Sure. And for some, there will be acute pain.” (more…)
Managing Your Horse’s Bugs, by Kentucky Performance Products
Bugs? What bugs?
Horses are hindgut fermenters. In other words, the hindgut portion of your horse’s digestive tract contains millions of beneficial bacteria and yeast, often referred to as microbes or “bugs.” These bugs have the ability to break down otherwise indigestible fiber into digestible compounds through a process called symbiotic microbial fermentation. Both the horse and the bugs benefit from this process. By joining forces, the bugs and the horse have evolved to utilize the complex carbohydrates found in grass and hay as a source of energy.
Good and bad bugs
Your horse’s cecum and colon, which make up the hindgut, contain both good and bad bugs. Your goal is to maximize the number of good bugs, while limiting the bad ones. Having a large number of good bugs ensures a healthy gut, which can effectively digest fiber, absorb nutrients, and regulate fluids. The good bugs keep the bad bacteria in check so they can’t overwhelm and damage the delicate hindgut. A proliferation of bad bugs can lead to many problems, including colic, diarrhea, and laminitis.
It’s a balancing act
The bug population living in your horse’s gut is complex and easily disrupted. These bugs have evolved to convert a continual supply of moist grass into energy. Wild horses graze up to 17 hours a day, ingesting a variety of plants that slowly change in composition with the seasons.
The demands made on today’s horses often make it hard for us to mimic this natural state in our management programs. Confinement, high-energy demands, abrupt feed changes, shipping, illnesses, and other stressful situations can throw the delicately balanced system out of whack and make your horse sick.
Keeping the good bugs happy and healthy is one of the major challenges facing today’s horse owners.
Eight Easy Steps to Happy Bugs:
- Provide an unlimited source of clean water at all times.
- Feed a consistent diet and make all changes in concentrates, hay and supplements slowly — over a week to 10 days — to allow the bug population enough time to adapt to new compounds.
- Feed high-quality fiber and offer it ad lib whenever possible.
- Feed concentrates as small, frequent meals. Do not feed more than 4 pounds of concentrate per meal.
- Maintain a consistent feeding schedule. Bugs become accustomed to “eating” at certain times of the day, so not feeding your horse on time can cause the beneficial bugs to die off. If too many bugs die off at once, the hindgut will become unbalanced.
- Keep all feeds and supplements in a horse-proof container or feed room to avoid accidental overeating.
- Never feed tainted or moldy concentrates, hay or supplements.
- Supplement your horse with high-quality probiotics during times of stress or after antibiotic use. Probiotics can help repopulate the hindgut with “good” bugs.
About Kentucky Performance Products, LLC:
Choose Neigh-Lox® Advanced when digestive health is a top priority for your equine athlete.
Neigh-Lox Advanced provides a scientifically advanced blend of ingredients that work synergistically to maintain your horse’s digestive tract in peak condition by supporting both the gastrointestinal tissues and the beneficial bacteria that populate the gut. Maintaining a healthy digestive tract reduces the risk of colonic and gastric ulcers, colic, laminitis related to hindgut acidosis, and oxidative stress that damages digestive tract tissues themselves. Horses with a well-balanced GI tract have good appetites, absorb more nutrients from their diets, maintain a strong immune system, and stay healthier.
The horse that matters to you matters to us®. KPPusa.com