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Willow is a nine-year-old New Forest pony, standing at 13.3 hands high.  For 7 and a half years he has been owned by Alice Ward.  Alice explains: “Willow and I do everything and anything together.  He is a bit of a Jack of all trades!  Willow was born in the New Forest,  at 6-months-old he was purch...

Every summer we have lots of people calling us concerned about their horse’s lack of energy. The first step we take is try to pin point what the likely cause is, and to do that we have to ask a few questions:   1.  Is the horse otherwise healthy? If your horse is normally happy and energetic and sud...

    This is Maesfen Regent, he is a 14-year-old Anglo Arab.  He stands at 16.2hh and he is Feedmark’s Horse Of The Week!  Louise Farrimond owns Regent, and has done so for 12 years. Louise explains: “Sired by the late Fairlyn Gemini and then bought directly from the breeder, Regent has been owned by...

Our new Horse Of The Week is a Hanoverian (Wendepunkt) cross Thoroughbred, named Stan.  He stands at 16.1hh and has been owned by Danielle Wrigley for five years.  Danielle explained: “At 22-years-old Stan is still going strong.  He has competed well at dressage in the past, but now we mainly school...

They are important antioxidants

We all know that antioxidants are a good thing, but does everyone know why? The oxidation process converts food (fats, carbohydrate and protein) into energy, carbon dioxide and water.  While necessary for cells to survive, this oxidation also produces free radicals...

Since my last blog I have discovered that Fantom and I were 3^rd in the National Championships at Horseshoe; what a little superstar he is! Watergate Endurance has been going through a somewhat quiet patch over the last few weeks, giving time to reflect and regroup with plans being made for the later...

First things first I need to apologise for taking quite so long to write this after my last blog.  I spent three and half weeks on the sidelines whilst my hand recovered which was quite a frustrating time!  Breaking my hand couldn't have come at a more annoying time really as all the horses were on ...

The way we manage our horses can have a great effect on the health and function of their joints through-out their lifetime.  Due to a poor design, horses have relatively small joints in comparison to their body size, so a lot of pressure is put upon these joints. However, we see more issues in the d...

This is Kinnagoe Bay, known to his friends as Pete.  He is an exceedingly charismatic, 16.2hh, bay Thoroughbred gelding by Centro (NZ) out of No Less (NZ).  This 21-year-old, veteran 4* eventer was acquired by Dr. Harley Kemp just over five months ago. Harley explains a little about Pete’s history: “Pete has evented his whole life, to the highest levels.  He has been there, done it, and got the sweat rug!  He has competed at the 4* at Burghley and at Badminton; and has also travelled to Strzegom; Fontainebleau; Le Lion D’angers; and Boekelo to name just a few. The list is literally too long to mention all events!  For the first three seasons of Pete’s career he was ridden by THE Andrew Nicholson.  He then moved to compete with Julian Trevor Roper and other locally well-known eventers, before being sold on.  Competing at CCI/CIC 4* level, he is a horse with an impressive career.” This is how Pete looked when he arrived home with Harley.[/caption] “When I arrived to view Pete, I expected to see a semi-retired eventer in good condition, however I did not expect to find him in the extremely poor state that he was.  I was quite shocked and knew instantly that I had to buy him and take him home.  He was rather skeletal and wobbly, but still such a kind and friendly horse.  I suspected he may have some form of dietary issue, I didn’t know whether he would come back to full form or if it was too late to repair the damage.  However, once I got him home I set about gradually introducing good quality fibres and superior quality supplements to support his recovery.  He had lost a great deal of muscle as well as fat, his coat was dull, his skin dry and flaky, and his eyes were runny. He was also quite irritable when grooming around his girth area.  Along with beet and chaff I decided to introduce Feedmark Gastric Comfort and Replenish.   The result has been nothing short of remarkable!  He has eaten everything put in front of him and seems a much happier horse.  I am totally convinced that without such good nutritional support, he would not have turned around.  I will not stop feeding these supplements to Pete and I have also introduced my other horses to the products as I feel the Gastric Comfort has protective qualities for horses that are in training.  Twelve weeks on and I have a horse that looks every part the athletic eventer that he is!” “I am now training Pete for pure dressage and hope to qualify him for the BD Veteran Horse Championship this year, at Vale View.  He is really enjoying turning his hooves to some pure dressage, and because of his eventing background finds the more advanced dressage movements all too easy!  He especially loves checking himself out in the arena mirrors when training - but who can blame him, he is rather gorgeous!  The whole family adores Pete because of his fantastic nature, even my six month old daughter Amelia is totally smitten with him. Thank you for producing such a super, quality product that has helped Pete thrive once again!” “I aim to keep Pete happy with hacking, competing in affiliated dressage, the occasional jumping class and whatever else he fancies doing!  Although he has retired from eventing as such, I would never rule out competing in an unaffiliated ODE with him.  He is as fit as a fiddle and does love his cross country.  Hopefully he will also teach Amelia to ride, as she already enjoys sitting on him!  Pete really is a one in a million.” A FREE 2kg tub of Gastric Comfort is on its way to Pete for being our Horse Of The Week! Each week, the Feedmark team select a horse of the week from reviews, letters and emails sent to them.  If you would like your horse to feature, then please send your horse’s details in to [email protected] or go online and write a review.

Our Horse Of The Week is now Ted, who is a 15.1hh, Welsh Section D Cob.  His full name is HRH Edward I. June Hayden is Ted’s owner, and has been for 8 years since he was a two-and-a-half-year-old. June explains: “I backed, broke and schooled him myself, he is amazing.  I initially trained him for le...

Written by Olivia Colton MSc Tying-up, Monday morning disease, exertional rhabdomyolysis, setfast and azorturia are alternative names for the same condition.  We still do not know all the answers about this muscular disorder, though modern research is helping us see how and why horses tie-up a littl...

Trilogy KJ (stable name: Trio), is a 5 year old gelding owned by Lauren-May Cardines.  He is a bay Lusitano cross, standing at 15.1hh.  Lauren explained: “From previously working with horses, loaning and sharing, Trio is the first horse whom I have backed myself.  I would like to affiliate him in Dr...