Equine nutrition is complex and errors cause serious welfare problems including laminitis, gastric ulcers, and metabolic disease that are largely preventable.
Nutritional management errors cause preventable suffering in millions of horses annually. Laminitis causes extreme laminar pain equivalent to standing on bruised fingertips. Gastric ulcers cause chronic discomfort during every period without food. Providing ad libitum hay or haylage, restricting spring grass access for susceptible horses, and avoiding high starch feeds are the evidence-based interventions that prevent the most common nutrition-related welfare problems.