Add Neigh-Lox to Your Horse’s Travel Bag
Despite their size and strength, horses are amazingly easy to transport. Horsemen often don’t think twice of loading them into vans and trailers and driving across state lines for horse shows, sales, veterinary attention, and breeding shed appointments. Elite breeding and performance horses often fly to their destinations. While traveling may seem routine to caretakers, it is anything but ordinary for their equine cargo.
Research has shown that horses experience several physiological changes during transport. Though these findings might be expected in young horses or those with limited travel experience, seasoned travelers were found to have similar responses.
- Cortisol, a hormone closely linked to stress, was significantly higher in transported horses than horses in a familiar environment.
- Heart rate, a well-documented measure of calmness, was raised in loaded horses by 18 beats per minute, approximately 50 to 75% over normal resting heart rate.
- Stress often manifests as an unwillingness to eat during a trip, as shown by a recent study completed in Scotland.
- Horses loaded in a stationary trailer spent almost 75% of their time eating hay, while the same horses ate hay only 25% of the time when the trailer was moving.
- When a horse does not eat consistently, certain changes occur in the gastrointestinal tract, particularly the stomach. Consumption of hay stimulates the flow of saliva, which is an effective buffer of stomach acid. Horses that refuse to eat hay for long periods of time or eat small amounts intermittently often develop gastric ulcers due to an increase in stomach acidity.
Reducing Stress with Neigh-Lox
As the perfect preventative against the effects of stress, Neigh-Lox
- sets up a protective barrier between gastric acid and the delicate mucous membranes that line the stomach.
- promotes a normal gastric environment, protect against excess gastric secretions that might cause horses to develop a sour disposition, a poor hair coat, and a noticeable decline in performance.
Recommendations for Using Neigh-Lox
To help relieve the physiological effects of stress during transport, horses should be given Neigh-Lox. The ideal time to begin supplementation is two weeks prior to departure. Because it is a pelleted feed, Neigh-Lox can be mixed quickly and easily into the horse’s grain meal. Supplementation with Neigh-Lox should continue throughout the trip and for two weeks afterward.
Weanlings should be given two ounces in each grain meal with no more than eight ounces given in one day. Yearlings, two-year-olds, and mature horses can be given four ounces in each grain meal with no more than sixteen ounces given in one day.
BACK |
|
