In addition to providing honest advice, we at AskHELTIE believe it's important to have a wealth of information available for horse owners. This way, you can expand your knowledge and help your horse to the best of your ability. Together, we ensure that horses come a little closer to nature.
Electrolytes
Skin
Minerals
Feeding
Why are electrolytes important for horses?
If you train in the summer months, your horse can sweat a lot. You often hear that you should give electrolytes. Why is that? What are electrolytes actually? When should you give them and what is the most absorbable form?. The official description of electrolytes in chemistry is as follows: they are ions of salts, acids, and bases that are in liquid form in the body. Sounds complicated, but what it comes down to is: they are soluble salts. The most important electrolytes for mammals are sodium, chlorine, and potassium. Sodium chloride is also known as table salt. In addition, magnesium and calcium are also important electrolytes for the functioning of the nervous system and muscles of both horses and humans. Elect...
Guest blog
Feeding
Vitalbix guest blog: Does your horse still have energy when you feed grain-free?
Many horse enthusiasts believe that a sport horse always needs grain-based concentrate feed for sufficient energy. That a horse becomes sluggish or unable to perform without the grains and sugars from concentrate feed. That's not true. Horses don't naturally derive their energy from grains, which form the main component of many types of concentrate feed. We discussed this with Madelief Jambroes from Vitalbix. What's the exact situation with energy, vitamins, and minerals in horse feed?. Madelief is the "Manager Nutrition & Education" at Vitalbix. She provides daily nutritional advice to horse owners and is jointly responsible for product development and knowledge dissemination. Madelief says, "I have a degree in nutrition and initially worked in human nutrition. Horse nutrition has always been of interest to me, and partly thanks to my own horse, I got involved in this field." What is a balancer? Often, you hear that it's best to provide a horse with suf...
Others
Teeth grinding in horses, can EOTRH be the cause?
When your horse suddenly starts grinding its teeth, you naturally wonder why. One of the causes may be a painful dental disease called EOTRH. What is this condition and how do you recognize it? And what other reasons for teeth grinding are there. EOTRH stands for Equine Odontoclastic Tooth Resorption and Hypercementosis. Quite a mouthful. The name means that it is a horse disease involving bone-resorbing cells. The teeth dissolve, and too much cement (tartar) is formed. EOTRH usually begins with the outer incisors, which are often the most affected. The disease occurs most often in horses over 15 years old. We see it more frequently in geldings and stallions than in mares. Also, certain breeds (such as Icelandic horses) seem to be more s...
Nettle
Cannabinoids
Skin
Clove
Sweet itch
Itchiness? These herbs help support your horse!
The summer is the season of itchiness in horses. Insects, heat, grass, fertilizer, and many other reasons can cause horses to itch. Itchiness is not only extremely annoying for the horse, but also for us as horse owners. How can you support your horse so that it has less itchiness?. There is no miracle cure Unfortunately, there is no miracle cure that can eliminate all itchiness in all horses, if only it were that easy! Each horse is different and each horse reacts differently to herbs. What works perfectly for your horse may not work at all for your neighbor's horse. The effectiveness of the herbs also greatly depends on your horse's diet. Therefore, do not expect miracles from the herbs below, but see them as an additional support. Don't forget to examine the diet! You ca...
Tendons
Silicon
What does silicon do for the tendons of a horse?
Silicon! That is usually our first answer when customers contact us about their horse with a tendon problem. But why do we insist on silicon, because it is not a supplement that works directly? We are happy to explain it to you in this blog.. What is silicon? Silicon is a trace element that has always been very underrated. However, we have known better for a number of years now. It is a mineral that is involved in a huge number of processes in the body and has a much greater influence than was thought. Silicon is found in very limited quantities in the feed of horses, and often in a form that is not easily absorbed. That is the extremely tricky thing about silicon, almost no form is easily absorbable for horses. Sand, for example, is...
Cannabinoids
Skin
Insulin resistance
Clove
Sweet itch
Summer Itching: Why does my horse have itch?
The sun is shining, the grass is green, and the evenings are long. A delightful time. But spring and summer are also the time when some horses get a lot of itching. Often this is immediately thought of as sweet itch: an allergic reaction to the bite of small midges. But there can also be other causes for itching. Why does your horse have itching? And what can you do about it?. During the transition from winter to spring and summer, many horses spend more time outside. Typically, the diet also changes from hay to (partially) fresh grass. With the higher temperatures, insects also become active again: flies, mosquitoes, midges, horseflies, and ticks can be troublesome for your horse. Not all itching is sweet itch! It is important to find out why your horse is scratching in the summer months. The reason is not always sweet itch. A horse can also get itchy as a reaction t...
First Aid
Tendons
Silicon
Black cumin
Recognizing, treating, and preventing tendon injuries in horses
Many horse owners have to deal with them: tendon injuries. Difficult, unpleasant, and sometimes even the end of your horse's sporting career. How does a tendon injury occur? What should you do if you think your horse has a tendon injury? How can you support an injured horse? And how can you reduce the risk of a tendon injury?. Horses have relatively thin legs, with tendons close to the surface. An injury to the tendons is therefore always looming. Tendon injuries come in many different forms. Sometimes a horse is very lame, sometimes not at all. Sometimes it is a very serious problem, in other cases, the horse only needs to train a little less intensively. How does a tendon injury occur? There can be several causes for tendon injuries: Too intense training Too much of the same / repetitive training Training on poor su...
Feeding
Roughage 2.0: What should I feed my horse?
he opinions on feeding horses have changed significantly in the last few decades. When horses were still working in the fields, it was important that they could quickly absorb a lot of energy and pellets were considered ideal. Furthermore, horses often received the same roughage as dairy cattle. But a horse is not a cow and not a human either. Horses have a unique digestive system. It is wise to take this into account when choosing roughage. Feed 2.0 it is!. To start with, a cow has four stomachs and is a ruminant. This means that a large part of digestion already takes place before the food reaches the intestines. A horse, on the other hand, mostly digests in the hind part of the digestive system: in the cecum and colon. There, fiber digestion takes place with the help of millions of bacteria and other microorganisms. Horses derive their energy mainly from fibers, which are converted into volatile fatty acids. Fibers are mainly found in roughage, n...
Others
Is 24/7 outdoor suitable for all horses?
Paddock Paradises, Active stable systems, Browsing Paddocks, Tracks and other methods are all the rage nowadays. And logically so, because more and more horse owners realize that spending a lot of time outdoors is beneficial for the health and mental well-being of horses. However, there are often sounds of "my horse doesn't want to be outside" or "my horse enjoys being in the stable". Is 24/7 outdoor living suitable for all horses? In this blog, we will give our perspective on this.. Yes, 24/7 outdoor living is suitable for all horses, as long as... Horses are still very close to nature and in their genes, little to nothing has changed compared to the primal horse. We have bred horses to be suitable for sport or for a special color. However, little to nothing has changed in terms of the needs of the horse. A horse still needs to spend the vast majority of the day eating and searching for food. For this, the horse needs to cover many kilometers per day and take step by step....
Guest blog
Minerals
Feeding
Guest Blog Femke Dölle: Mineral buffet: choice menu for your horse
Femke Dölle is a holistic instructor and welfare advisor for horses. She always gives her horses a choice of different minerals, like a buffet. Femke: "I started doing this because in nature, horses eat a variety of plants in addition to grass. This is necessary to get all the necessary minerals and trace elements. Since I couldn't provide my horses with such a diverse diet, but still wanted to meet that need, I came up with this idea.. Femke explains: "I started offering minerals in water. First with two buckets and then I would switch them out. At my new stable, there are now six buckets hanging on the wall, like a buffet. Each bucket contains different minerals." As needed "I believe that horses in nature can choose for themselves, they know what they need and engage in self-medication. This is called zoopharmacognosy. You can see with horses that have the choice, that they eat specific plants in certain perio...
Guest blog
Femke Dölle: "Natural housing is healthy and can also be done on a smaller plot of land"
Femke Dölle is a holistic instructor and horse welfare consultant. She designs Browsing Paddocks®. This is a form of naturally domesticated housing for horses, which can also be realised on smaller plots of land. Femke also gives advice on passive physio for horses. This involves challenging the horse to use many different muscles even in its 'free time'. This mimics the way of life of wild horses, keeping them healthier and fitter. We asked Femke about her tips for natural housing.. Femke: "My concept of the Browsing Paddock® arose from the idea that I wanted horses to experience less stress, especially in terms of housing and feeding. As an instructor, I found that I could keep giving endless lessons, but if the housing and feeding management are not in order, then progress is limited. When we optimize the diet and housing, I already see half of the mental and physical problems disappear on average. Good management and the right way of feeding ensure that the horse fe...
Organs
Others
Oh dear, my horse has something wrong with his eye!
Horses have beautiful, large, and expressive eyes. With those eyes, they can almost see all around them. They can perceive any enemy or gnome, often long before their human has seen anything. But those beautiful horse eyes are also vulnerable. Here is an overview of the most common eye problems in horses.. Because horses have large protruding eyes, it is relatively easy for something to get in them. Sand, bacteria, branches, another horse's tail... In general, eye problems in your horse should not be ignored or 'waited out'. Always consult your veterinarian. Sometimes it is harmless and easy to treat, but often you need to intervene in time to prevent worse. So do not try to doctor it yourself or endlessly use boiled water! Eye inflammation: conjunctivitis A common problem is inflammation of the e...