Did you know that grass typically contains 20% sugar and that horses are very efficient at digesting sugar? A 500kg grazing horse will eat around 50 kg of grass, hence consume around 2 kg or 2000g of sugar every day and an equivalent consumption of hay – around 11.5kg – will provide 1kg or 1000g of sugar.

Formulated to mimic nature and a very natural way of feeding, Horslyx contains the same type of sugar in the form of molasses, so it’s a great way of ensuring that your horse or pony really enjoys eating all the high quality vitamins, minerals and trace elements in Horslyx that are essential for good health and also gets the best out of his diet.

Although pure molasses is 45-50% sugar, (many treats are much higher) the daily 250g Horslyx intake will add only 82.5g of sugar to the diet, which isn’t going to affect the waistline of even good doers. As Horslyx is licked little and often, it’s the ideal way of ensuring that the digestive system isn’t overloaded by too much sugar, such as can happen with a manger feed eaten very quickly.

Overloading the digestive system with sugar can cause serious digestive upsets including colic and it has also been linked with laminitis, tying up and equine gastric ulcer syndrome (EGUS), so if you want a more natural diet for your horse or pony, Horslyx is a great choice. It will never overload the digestive system as the rate of sugar intake is very much lower than when grazing or eating manger fed cubes or mixes* and Horslyx has the benefit of providing a steady intake of top quality nutrition, just as nature intends.

The table below sets out the comparison of sugar content referred to above

* Rate of intake -

If a 500kg horse eats 10kg dry matter/day and grazes for 15 hours a day, it averages 0.67kg dry matter per hour of grazing = 133g sugar/hour from grass (on average).

The 82g of sugar from Horslyx consumed over the same 15 hours) equates to 5.5g sugar per hour. If the Horslyx is consumed over 24 hours, the rate of sugar consumption drops to 3.4g sugar per hour.

Contrast this to the rate of consumption of any nuts/cubes/mix fed. Even low sugar products, due to their higher feed rates and rapid consumption will contribute significantly to total sugar intake. For example a “staple” such as molassed beet pulp, with its 18-20% sugar content (180-200g/kg) if fed at only 2lbs/day (0.9kg) will provide 162-180g sugar – and how fast will a horse eat this?

It’s important when considering sugar in the horse’s diet to understand the importance not only of sugar intakes (derived from both what is eaten and the quantity eaten) but also the speed of intake/consumption, which presents probably the greater risk of over-loading the digestive capacity of the horse.

For more information about Horslyx, the Feed in a Tub, call the Horslyx helpline on +44 (0)16973 32592 or visit their website www.horslyx.co.uk