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.
Pasture
Fertilizing horse pasture? Preferably no artificial fertilizers!
Dutch farmers regularly use artificial fertilizers on their fields and pastures. However, artificial fertilizers are less suitable for fertilizing a horse pasture. The grass becomes 'too rich', which can lead to all sorts of issues for horses. Horses do better on 'poorer' grass. Artificial fertilizers emerged in the previous century. They are used to increase production in agriculture by adding high concentrations of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium to the soil. Artificial fertilizers are mad...
Others
Tendons
The effect of substrate on the tendons of horses
During a lameness examination, attention is always paid to how the horse moves on a hard surface and on a soft surface. Sometimes, a horse may limp on a hard surface but not on a soft one. This can provide a lot of valuable information for a veterinarian! The surface on which a horse walks has an impact on its body and also affects it. Susceptible to injury Horses are prone to injury, especially when it comes to their legs. It is not uncommon for a horse to stumble (during training), land incorr...
Feeding
Pasture
How do you get your horse used to grass?
How to get your horse used to grass? Spring is on its way! As the ground warms up again, the grass starts growing. And when the grass has grown strong enough, your horse can go back to the pasture. Naturally wonderful. But how do you ensure the transition to pasture grazing goes as smoothly as possible so that your horse can get used to the grass? Grass starts to grow when the soil temperature is between 5°C and 8°C. Grass growth is optimal between a soil temperature of 12°C and 20°C. When the s...
Guest blog
Pasture
# Guest blog Horse & Habitat: everything about sowing your pasture
Guest blog Horse & Habitat: all about sowing your pasture Spring is a good time to start sowing. Sowing has several advantages. You can fill in bare spots with plants you want to have there, which inhibits the growth of unwanted plants such as ragwort. You can also improve the composition of your pasture by sowing grass species that are lower in sugar than English ryegrass. When sowing, you naturally want the germination of your seed mixture to be as good as possible. You have invested money...
Guest blog
Feeding
Guest blog Bart van Heesbeen: Prevailing beliefs about nutrition in equestrian sports
In my previous article for HELTIE horse® I wrote about natural nutrition in sports. In this sequel, I would like to discuss prevailing beliefs in the equestrian world and whether they are accurate. In equestrian sports, there are often many different beliefs regarding nutrition. 'He needs a lot of energy' or 'he will gain weight from too much concentrate.' Maybe you can think of more. What's interesting for me is that I can understand these opinions very well, as I also come from the world of sp...
Others
The best start for your foal
After eleven months of waiting, the time has finally come, your foal is born! Of course, we all want our foals to grow up into strong, healthy, and happy horses. How do you ensure that your foal gets the best possible start in life? First day When your foal is just born, the most important thing is for it to receive enough colostrum. In the first six to eight hours, your foal should ideally have ingested one to two liters of this thick milk full of antibodies. It's difficult to see if your foal...
Others
How to read a label of a horse supplement?
Etiketten, what a drama sometimes to clearly understand what exactly is in there. It's full of legal obligations and with that the "sales pitch". But even that sales pitch is sometimes very cryptically described. So how should you actually read a label? Labels of horse feed and supplements are different! We always emphasize that you should carefully read the labels of a feed bag so you know exactly what the ingredients are and also review the analysis. Because that information says a l...
Minerals
Rosehip
Vitamin E
Keep broodmare resistance high for childbirth!
Keep resistance of broodmare high for childbirth! Did you know that foals are born with virtually no immune system? Only a small part of the necessary antibodies is already present before birth via the placenta to the foal. All other antibodies they need to be able to deal with viruses and bacteria are obtained from the mare's colostrum. That is the first milk produced immediately after birth. So colostrum is incredibly important for the foal! A foal that does not receive enough colostrum is ver...
Behaviour
Magnesium
Others
Silicon
Is rearing the best place for foals to grow up?
Is the rearing the best place for foals to grow up? Most foals go to a special place for rearing after weaning. Here they usually spend about two to two and a half years. But does a foal actually have to be in rearing? What does good rearing look like? And what are the alternatives? Because we don't have a lot of space everywhere in the Netherlands, you often find affordable rearing locations for foals in the more rural provinces, or even abroad. As the owner of a young horse, you usually don't...
Vitamin E
Better fertility of mares and healthy foals thanks to vitamin E
Vitamin E plays an important role in improving fertility in mares. This has been known for humans for some time. But this vitamin also has a positive effect on horses. Vitamin E is often used together with other antioxidants. It increases the fertility of mares and stallions and ensures better resistance in breeding mares and their newborn foals. The effectiveness of vitamin E in people with fertility problems has been well researched. There have also been a number of scientific studies done in...
Nettle
Rosehip
Prevent resistance dip in horse? Choose nettle and rosehip!
Preventing resistance dip? Choose nettle and rosehip! At the end of winter/in early spring, many horses experience a dip in resistance. Horses are shedding their winter coat and preparing themselves for spring. This is also a period where there can be significant temperature differences, with frost at night and temperatures above 10 degrees during the day. But how can you prevent a resistance dip in your horse? Liquid rosehip for extra antioxidants and vitamin C Rosehip is a fruit known for bein...
Feeding
Roughage for horses: there is more than hay!
Roughage for horses: there is more than (unpackaged) hay! When we ask our customers what roughage their horse gets, the standard answer is (pre-cut) hay. And this is logical, because this is also the largest source of roughage for horses. But there are several types of roughage that can provide more variety for your horse and even make it possible to keep (almost) all horses on unlimited roughage! In this blog, we will gladly explain to you which types of roughage there are, in addition to unpac...