—Contributed

Slow feeders offer so many advantages, including improved health and well-being for all grazing animals.

Horses are grazing herbivores with a very small stomach (8 to 15 litres) that is ideally designed for small, regular meals, as food passes through the stomach very quickly. In pastured areas, horses graze almost continually.

Horses salivate only when they are chewing and under normal circumstances they produce up to 30 litres a day of saliva. Saliva is an acid buffer, neutralizing the acid in the stomach, as well as lubricating food. The horse constantly produces stomach acid, even if the horse is not eating! If not eating, the acid has no buffer (saliva) as he is not chewing. The result can be ulcers, cribbing, colic symptoms, and other behavioral problems.

Slow feeders help slow down the consumption of hay, keeping your horse “grazing” longer. Natural Alternative Grazers (NAG) Bags offers slow feeders for round bales, small square hay nets, slow feeders for shod horses, and others.

For more information and advice on setting up a slow feeding system for your farm, visit www.slowfeeder.com, or contact Mandy Blais at 250-308-6208 or slowhayfeeders@live.ca.