Integral Equine Nutrition in Duffys Forest | Professional service

Integral Equine Nutrition

Locality: Duffys Forest

Phone: +61 407 405 594

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25.01.2022 COVID-19 restrictions are easing, and so comes to an end the discount on remote consultations - after June 30 these will go back to full price. Theres still time to squeeze one in if you hurry! https://www.facebook.com/1070013919728683/posts/2934167029980020/

25.01.2022 A reminder that it doesn't take much or long for sensitive horses to go backwards if their nutrition isn't kept up to scratch. The lovely Mia here had been happily on a healthy balanced diet formulated by me for a couple of years now, but rapidly went backwards when she went off property for a couple of months (even though her feed was sent with her... ). Fortunately she bounced back just as quickly - top photo is first day back home, bottom after 37 days ... Also a reminder to keep an eagle eye out when someone else is feeding your horses!

25.01.2022 How do you rug?

23.01.2022 Not a bad day for my first big client day since COVID-19!

22.01.2022 Another youngster to start on a forage based, balanced diet for slow growth, long term health and soundness - meet 20 month WB Daimler!

21.01.2022 "What about me?!" The Noble Spanish Steed is, unfortunately for him, bottom of the pecking order, so has to wait until I fill the last slow feeder for lunch! Chestnuts reign supreme here Interestingly, they had access to a fresh paddock this morning, but brought themselves up to wait for lunch exactly 15 minutes ago

21.01.2022 Note: this is not the correct way to use a slow feeder!

20.01.2022 Do you feed a vitamin E supplement? There are a many products on the market, but deciding which one is not so black and white! A new study shows that synthetic vitamin E supplements do not increase vitamin E levels in the blood anywhere near as well as a natural, water-soluble form. As synthetic vitamin E is much more stable than its natural counterpart, many complete feeds and supplements will contain it, however your horse may not be getting the benefits! Additionally, the... natural vitamin E used in the study, showed that it was able to significantly reduce markers of muscle damage, inflammation and oxidation in unfit horses put on a 6 week exercise program. The real-world outcome was that horses on the natural supplement had less reduction in stride length - this suggests that they had less muscle soreness during their exercise regime. https://www.sciencedirect.com///abs/pii/S0737080620301945

20.01.2022 Worthwhile checking out if you can!

19.01.2022 Hows this for a happy Friday post! To be honest I wasnt sure Id ever see him under saddle, but there you go! Good job team

19.01.2022 Perks of the job, getting to hang out with munchkins like this!

19.01.2022 Get your copy of Equine News and Trade Directory - complete with my article about feeding the microbiome!

19.01.2022 Long time client, excellent care assured!

18.01.2022 Hope you like my little video about reading a feed analysis! There's so much more information that can be gleamed from these, but I thought this would help people with the basics, and the most crucial aspects for laminitic or metabolic horses. Enjoy :)

18.01.2022 I know it's Friday, and lockdowns are easing... but maybe DON'T try this one at home!

18.01.2022 All about CLOVER There has been a bit of an explosion of clover in many parts of Australia following the recent spring rainfalls, causing much concern in the equine community - particularly those with *ahem* fuller figured friends! But how worried should you be? Clover is a legume (like lucerne, and also things like chickpeas, beans and lentils) - which means that it is able to "fix" nitrogen in the soil. This, along with a deep taproot, make it an excellent plant for improvi...Continue reading

17.01.2022 ***Golden Joint Complex is BACK IN PRODUCTION*** Limited quantities, so get in quick with your orders! www.integralequine.com.au/goldenjoint

17.01.2022 Happy Horses Birthday!!!

17.01.2022 Ever wondered what flaxseed plants look like? I found some growing next to our yards - where we sometimes tip/clean out feed bins. We feed flaxseed very coarsely ground so looks like some whole seeds have survived and germinated - very pretty! ETA - fresh flaxseed is not recommended for grazing (see comments).

17.01.2022 How's this for a happy Friday post! To be honest I wasn't sure I'd ever see him under saddle, but there you go! Good job team

16.01.2022 Getting your horse's diet checked and a custom supplement made up to suit might just save you a lot more money than my consultation fee!

16.01.2022 We need your help (AGAIN) to stop (MORE) developments! Last time we stopped the DA at 58 Laitoki Road, however they have yet again re-submitted applications to ...the Department of Planning! Additionally - the same people have quietly had a Site Compatibility Certificate (SCC) approved for 25 Laitoki Road - do you see a pattern here? Again the plan is for 54 self care units/townhouses. EVERYONE who lives, work or plays in the area needs to write to the Department of Planning (NOT the council) with a copy to MP Rob Stoke demanding that these applications are REFUSED. Please see the graphics for objection points and details on where to send. Ensure that you address BOTH developments in your email, or send two separate emails.

15.01.2022 Did you know we do fully custom pelleted supplements, for individual horses or groups? Get in touch to find out how you can get all your horse needs (and nothing more) in one convenient package!

14.01.2022 Would you like salad with that? Some fresh celery straight out of the veggie patch for the horses!

14.01.2022 Ok, here are some answers to yesterday's question (scroll down to get some context if you missed it!). Three commonly used sources of protein are lucerne, lupins and copra meal how do they fit in this diet? Option 1 - lucerne So many benefits here! Lucerne is a low sugar hay itself, so you can actually replace 2kg of the low sugar rhodes with 2kg lucerne hay - maintaining forage volume while avoiding increasing the total energy content of the diet by more than a couple of per...cent AND bringing both total protein and quality up to acceptable levels! Not to mention all the other benefits of lucerne, but that may need to be a separate post :) Option 2- lupins Lupins are quite a lot higher in total protein and lysine than lucerne, but also contain more energy and, crucially, they can't replace hay. So to provide sufficient protein using lupins, you would need to add almost 1kg lupins to the 10kg hay, which starts to increase the dietary energy more than 10%, which may make weight loss slower or difficult. Option 3 - copra Copra is often touted as being an excellent source of protein, and, to be fair, it does contain a good amount of crude protein (more than lucerne but less than lupins), BUT crucially, it contains less than half the amount of lysine. This means in our scenario, if you added 2kg copra, protein levels would be exceeded easily, but lysine levels are still not quite met and energy levels are now over requirements and will lead to weight GAIN! Not what we want at all. I think it's clear what option I usually choose :P

14.01.2022 This proverb is applicable to horse health and nutrition in so many ways - the most common causes of illness and death in our equine are all diet related - colic, laminitis, ulcers! Of course there are many occasions when modern medicine IS necessary, and works in tandem with improved nutrition and management. Gastric ulcers are a great example of this and there has been research done showing that omeprazole PLUS diet modification is much more effective than omeprazole alone (link in comments). Without getting the basics right, its an uphill battle!

14.01.2022 Looks like I have a new assistant - Sampson is studying my old client forms! (Actually the southerly last night just blew a lot of papers off my desk and outside, this landed in a perfect spot )

13.01.2022 Last day at this price!

12.01.2022 Hope you like my little video about reading a feed analysis! Theres so much more information that can be gleamed from these, but I thought this would help people with the basics, and the most crucial aspects for laminitic or metabolic horses. Enjoy :)

12.01.2022 Remember this grass? We were waiting for it to get nice and long and mature before letting the horses graze, the theory being that this would result in grass with lower sugar levels. WELL - I had it analysed and the theory has held! ESC + starch easily under 10% at 7.2% - yippee!... A few more details before anyone gets too excited (or is that just me ). The first photo is the grass before we let them graze it, the second is the day I took the sample, after they had had half a day of grazing. Obviously they had already munched some of the choicest parts, but there were still lots of untouched but delicious parts for me to sample. There's a pretty wide variety of species in there, mostly C4 type grasses including of course kikuyu but many others as well, with a little ryegrass, some clover and trefoil (a legume). As you can see in sample day photo, it was glary but overcast day, and it was midday. Clouds overhead can result in lower sugar levels (less sun = less photosynthesis = less sugar production). I chose midday as my horses go onto a dry lot at 1pm with hay at the moment, so this is the latest time in the day that they are exposed to grass (afternoon = more daylight hours to photosynthesise = more sugar). So what do I take away from this result? While keeping in mind that this is a single moment in time, it suggests that in my pastures, letting the grasses grow that much does result in low-moderate sugar levels, at least on a cloudy day, and I can assume that earlier in the morning sugar levels were lower again. Now, in some species of grass sugar levels can more than double from early morning to late afternoon given sunny conditions - so I can make another (very) rough guess that this grass was unlikely to have been higher than 14% or so at the end of the afternoon. While this is technically higher than the safe 10%, it is not crazy high, which is nice to know (and in any case, my fatties aren't eating it then!). It's hard to say what might have been the result if it had been a bright sunny day - I'll have to do another test someday and find out!

11.01.2022 Arrow is racing into 2021 with his best hoof forward! He's two now, so lots of life coming for him I'm sure It's a joy to see this young stock horse growing up so beautifully on a high fibre, low starch diet with balanced minerals.

10.01.2022 Sponsored pair @laurenruby and Izaac finally getting out and about since restrictions have lifted - and looking great while theyre at it

10.01.2022 I know its Friday, and lockdowns are easing... but maybe DONT try this one at home!

10.01.2022 Hay bellies - fat or fiction? You may recognise "Pie the Drought Horse" in the photo, sporting a lovely big "hay belly". But if you look closely, at the ribs, shoulders, topline and hindquarters, he does not seem to be carrying any excess fat in these areas. Whats going on? Many people will look at a horse of this shape and say he needs to lose weight, however if you can see a horses ribs it is very unlikely that he is overweight, even with a big belly like this.... There are a number of reasons a horse can present with a big "hay belly" (and no, its not because he eats too much hay!). - Diet high in low quality (difficult to digest) hay/straw This causes bloating because the feed hangs around for a long time in the gut waiting to be digested. What does eventually get digested by the gut bacteria may also cause an increase in gas production by the bacteria - Similarly, a horse with digestive problems (hindgut issues, unhealthy gut bacteria) may also have trouble efficiently digesting feed, with the same result, even with better feed. - a diet very low in protein, or quality proteins (i.e. essential amino acids) This adds to the problem by reducing the horses ability to develop good topline and core strength, which allows it to "hold up" its belly and also evens out the shape visually - Similarly, long term lack of exercise in some horses can also result in a "sagging" belly - this is often related to confirmation. In Pies case - all of the above! During drought conditions he had to eat what he could find, much of which was probably not very high quality, resulting in a massive loss of weight and muscle atrophy all round. He has had an amazing recovery, however his digestive system has had to re-organise itself to deal with feed again, which may have led to a few changes in gut bacteria populations, and fluctuating gas production. Muscle development, particularly in the topline and core, will be the last thing to come, and will be helped along with good exercise, now that hes ready.

10.01.2022 Research shows that animals (including horses) more readily consume pelleted or kibbled ingredients than loose powders - which is why my custom supplements come in a pelleted format! This photo shows one of my custom mixes before (left) and after pelletisation (right), and each side is the SAME dose (130g in this case) - which would you rather use?

09.01.2022 Ravitude is picking up nicely after only 3 weeks on his new diet. Kylie owned him as a racehorse and made the great decision to transition him to be her riding horse when he was retired (last race in January, spelled until April). OTTBs often have trouble gaining and maintaining weight, even when fed lots and lots of feed, as was the case with Ravitude. ... The key to success is making sure the diet is heavy on good quality, ad lib forage, and using small meals of low starch (no grain!), higher fat/protein concentrate feed. This results in slow but steady weight gain and Kylie tells me that Ravitude is also much calmer - a nice bonus that often goes along with a healthy diet! (Shame the lighting is different in the two photos... but I promise he did have a duller coat too, its not just shadow!)

07.01.2022 New side gig - edible equine home decor; anyone?

07.01.2022 Its that time of year again - time to spring into action with your horses health, performance and well being! What better way to do that than organise a full nutrition consultation for 25% OFF! Promotion is limited to the month of September, so be quick to get in touch.... For more information visit contact me or visit the website. *Single horse bookings are limited to the Northern Beaches and Hills District (Sydney) for this promotion. *Discount only available for FULL consultations, not applicable to starter consultations or custom supplement formulation service.

06.01.2022 We can all relate to this one

06.01.2022 Cooking up a little snack? No, this is how I quickly dry fresh grass samples for analysis! After grass is cut its cells continue to "respire" until it's completely dried out and dead - respiration uses up nutrients, in particular sugars, so if you take too long getting the sample dried you may have a falsely low sugar level. Microwaving the sample (carefully in short bursts, I overdid it once and had the sample try to catch fire ) until it stops losing weight (ie all the water content has been lost) is a quick and easy way to make sure your sample is as close as possible to the mouthfuls your horse is actually eating.

05.01.2022 That didn't last long... you're FIRED Sampson!

05.01.2022 Consultations for large groups of horses and equestrian businesses available - get in touch for options and rates!

04.01.2022 Happy Horses' Birthday!!!

04.01.2022 Gorgeous winter photo of 18 month old stock horse "Arrow", growing up nicely on a balanced, high fibre, low starch diet

04.01.2022 It's that time of year again - time to spring into action with your horse's health, performance and well being! What better way to do that than organise a full nutrition consultation for 25% OFF! Promotion is limited to the month of September, so be quick to get in touch.... For more information visit contact me or visit the website. *Single horse bookings are limited to the Northern Beaches and Hills District (Sydney) for this promotion. *Discount only available for FULL consultations, not applicable to starter consultations or custom supplement formulation service.

03.01.2022 Golden Joint Complex - locally made fresh to order with human grade ingredients. A great mix of glucosamine, chondroitin, MSM and turmeric, made into an easy pellet with a flaxseed base. Order online - link in comments!

02.01.2022 Went to get a bit of pre-ride lucerne this morning and woke up this little guy! Guess it makes a comfy bed too!

02.01.2022 Getting your horses diet checked and a custom supplement made up to suit might just save you a lot more money than my consultation fee!

01.01.2022 Fun article about equine feeds around the world - I was certainly taken aback by the sheer variety and types of products available in the US when first working for clients there!