The Equine Nutrition course will combine two important fundamentals pertaining to horse health by studying biological nutrition and pasture. The course is designed to consolidate the importance and effectiveness of the digestive process and nutritional uptake and its effects on the entire aspect of the horses anatomy and physiology and how best to work with this in mind according to the individual.
Having a sound understanding of equine nutrition and plant biology as it pertains to the specific needs for a horse at various stages of their life and performance, is vital for the horse to survive and thrive in all that the horse is asked to do.
This course will allow the student to continually evolve through analysis to apply rational and critical thinking especially when we look further into todays’ market of equine nutritional products in comparison to the true nature of herbivore phytotherapy.
Managed pastures play an important role in the life and management of all horses, quite often the equine nutrition market tends to overlook the evolutionary biological make-up of the horse, when quite simply the modern-day horse has not changed, they are still the same horse they were centuries ago. More and more of our beloved monogastric plant eating herbivores are living their lives on a menagerie of over processed foods, leading to somewhat troublesome dietary conditions that simply could have been avoided if the horse was truly considered from the inside-out and outside-in with an individually tailored diet.
Many horses may spend all or some time in a pasture, whilst others will spend no time out on pasture. There may also be some paddocks that are overstocked, never rested and infested with internal weeds and parasites, therefore there can be many scenario’s that may affect horses nutritionally. Students will learn how to assess each individuals circumstances and work accordingly to ensure all nutritional requirements are being met.
The information contained in the course units has been complied with the astute help of two very important Veterinarians, the overall goal is to aid in reducing the more common conditions and diseases that affect so many horses in our modern times. At the end of this course the student will understand how nutrition can hinder or improve allergies or inflammation within the equine body. Understanding how nutritional diseases are caused and exasperated through nutrient deficiencies, therefore aiding students on how to professionally prescribe a complete diet that meets the nutritional biological requirements for horses, whether they are dealing with disease or not, each horse can be considered on an individual basis. Every horse will have an opportunity to live a healthier and productive life through the foundation, therapeutic and clinical nutrition subjects the student will learn in this course.
