Horse health and nutrition

Horses are involved in various activities, some of which include extreme intensity and often exceed their digestive capabilities. Our solutions and programmes advance the management of horse nutrition and health, leading to improvements in metabolism, feed valorisation, resistance to stress or workload, and training results. We aim to maximise equine performance while also preserving horse welfare.

Improving digestive health and hindgut function

Intestinal microbiota are important to the maintenance of horses’ health and their resistance to disease. Modern performance horses are exposed to stressful periods such as intensive training, weaning, transport, etc. These situations can lead to a deep change in their microbiota ecosystem. Horses are highly sensitive to digestive imbalance, with any impaired hindgut function capable of directly and quickly affecting a horse’s ability to cope with stress.

Our Phileo solution to improve horse performance and welfare

To prevent digestive imbalance, due to an excess of starch and the subsequent risk of colic, Phileo introduces Actisaf^® HR+ supporting fibre digestion while reducing the risk of acidosis and helping the horse to make the most of its feed intake.

Actisaf^® HR+ also helps avoid body weight loss associated with sustained training; reduces inflammation related to muscular activity; decreases uremia levels; improves the heart’s training tolerance to speed demands, and boosts blood oxygenation capacity during periods of intensive work.

Improving fibre digestion

aIn trials carried out in various locations, Actisaf^® has consistently demonstrated improvement in a horse’s ability to digest fibre. Actisaf^® enables the animal to make better use of energy from forage, therefore utilising its daily ration more efficiently. Giving Actisaf^® at 10 g/day secures benefits in feed utilisation. WHile significant effects can be seen at 5g/day, the optimal impact is achieved at 10g/head/day

Training stress and performance

Weight loss in young horses during periods of intensive activity is detrimental to their health and performance. Actisaf^® improves fitness and increases training success by maintaining body weight during periods of work. This benefit is related to the effect of Actisaf^® on the balance of the microbiota, improving fibre digestibility and feed utilisation.

V200 (race speed reached at 200 heart beats per minute) is a recognised performance marker during training. Supplementation with Actisaf^® significantly increases V200. This could be related to the metabolic effects of Actisaf^®, such as promoting increased hemoglobin levels, better energy use, and improved body detoxification.