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Our expert
Pauline Smith is a nutritional advisor at Dodson & Horrell.
Photos: Lucy Merrell, Peter Nixon, Jon Stroud
All tied up
My horse has tied up in the past. Should I be looking for specific types of feed to best support the condition?
Amie Garrett
A Pauline Smith answers: In horses prone to tying up (also known as azoturia), it’s best to try and provide a diet that has low levels of starch and sugar.
First, you should look to your horse’s forage allocation. Forage analysis can be carried out on hay or haylage to measure its sugar content, and it’s advisable you choose forage with low to average levels. Additionally, soaking your hay will help to further bring down sugar levels. It’s also advisable that you control his grazing during times of the year when the grass is high in sugar, for example during the spring and autumn flushes.