Practical handbook for better horse welfare

'Let food be your medicine and your medicine be your food.'

Doctors used to swear this oath to Hippocrates, the founder of Western medicine. This becomes apparent when we start feeding horses and ponies according to their natural minimum roughage needs. There will then be far fewer problems and stable vices. If we zoom in even further on the diet, it will become apparent that many more veterinary problems are influenced or caused by an inappropriate ration.

drs. Annette van Weezel Errens graduated in 2004 with a free study in Veterinary Medicine. She was already aware then that she was interested in a different preventive direction within veterinary medicine, one that meets the natural needs of the animal more. However, also one that takes nature into account and fits in with sustainable circular agriculture.

'The New Feeding' is a mindset and can provide answers to many social issues that the horse industry will have to deal with in the coming years. Annette's vision was already awarded the HIP award for 'turner' of the equestrian sector in 2019. Many of our normal practices for feeding and training horses date back to the last century. Time for change. In order to feed a horse properly, it is important that the ration is appropriate and that a horse can digest the feed well. Processes within the horse influence this. Think of teeth, age and diseases. Furthermore, processes around the horse, training, housing and group composition all have to be right. Only then can it be determined whether the horse needs a supplement as extra support, of good quality and actually for the problem at hand.

View the book with many illustrations and photos