Feeding soaked hay to laminitis prone horses and ponies may not be as healthy as
previously thought.
That’s according to new research conducted by the
British Laminitis Consortium, world-leading equine veterinary, nutrition and
research experts interested in collaborating on the important topic of
laminitis. Their research found that over-consumption of water-soluble
carbohydrates (WSC) has been associated with the onset of laminitis. It has been
recommended that hay should be soaked in water before being fed in order to
reduce carbohydrates.
The nine different hay samples were analyzed for WSC
and then soaked in cold water. The soaked samples were subsequently analyzed at
four intervals of 20 minutes, 40 minutes, three hours and 16 hours.
“The
results showed substantially less leaching than reported previously for chopped
hay soaked for 30 minutes,” explained Clare Barfoot, one of the researchers. The
consortium notes that the study shows that soaking hay may not be sufficient to
reduce carbohydrates for laminitis prone horses.
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