Our experience with Lavisano as a roughage substitute
Ideally, horses should only be fed roughage. But what if it is being exercised hard?
In its natural environment the horse is constantly moving. Not only does it ‘walk’ around 30km a day, it often has to sprint a few kilometres several times a day to escape predators. The horse’s physiognomy is designed for that kind of exercise, which demands healthy and optimally nourished muscles! To perform well, the muscles have to be healthy and strong.
Like an athlete, the horse needs an adequate intake of highly digestible protein, the right fats and carbohydrates as ‘fuel’.
Horses have high requirements of protein, which is evident by their excellent kidney function. Lavisano meets those requirements and it won’t be long before your horse begins to build muscle mass and get a shiny coat.
We have been testing Lavisano as a roughage substitute for more than 10 years. Ponies and horses of all ages are fed Lavisano and straw (without stalk reducing substances) as additional roughage. Despite many of them having severe previous health problems, all of which were treated by a vet, they looked healthy, recovered fast and their skin, hoof, intestine and lung problems soon cleared up. Bloating after being turned out became a thing of the past.
We gradually included horses in the tests that were unable to eat hay as a result of various intolerances. Today, these horses are healthy on Lavisano and are not displaying any more symptoms.
There are now livery stables with ‘Lavisano herds’ of horses that require quality feed as a result of previous health problems. Word has spread and some horse owners have a 100km drive to visit their horses because they want them to be in a Lavisano herd. This confirms that our approach to helping horses achieve and maintain health is the right one.
It is based on nature’s approach to creating one of our planet’s most beautiful creatures in one of its most barren environments. We respect the laws of nature and adhere to them. Lavisano is based on that principle.